McCort looks forward to running at NAIA nationals

<p>Caleb McCort’s cross country season began months ago in Florida, eventually made a stop in Alabama and is about to culminate in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.</p><p>The former Franklin runner has literally been all over the map.</p><p>On Friday, McCort, a junior at Florida College, will be one of approximately 350 athletes competing in the NAIA men’s national championships hosted by Mercy University.</p><p>McCort qualified for nationals in November with a sixth-place effort at the Southern States Athletic Conference meet in Danville, Alabama, posting a career-best time of 27 minutes, 9.33 seconds. However, due to COVID-19, the event was pushed into the spring — thus creating the rare experience of McCort training for cross country and track and field at the same time.</p><p>“I’m very excited. I’ve been looking forward to this opportunity since the start of my sophomore year here,” said McCort, one of two Falcons runners who qualified. “I would like to go under 27 minutes, which would be my personal low.”</p><p>Florida College, located 10 miles northeast of Tampa,  joined the NAIA and SSAC in June 2017 and began competing athletically during the 2018-19 school year. The school’s men’s and women’s athletic teams were previously aligned with the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.</p><p>The foundation of McCort’s success this season is in the 2:30 a.m. runs he made after his usual work shift at Rural King in Greenwood. After leaving work at 1 a.m., McCort would drive home, take a nap and then run between four and five miles in the early morning solace of his neighborhood.</p><p>Once back on campus, McCort excelled during the pandemic-abbreviated regular season, finishing eighth individually at the Alligator Lake Invitational and 14th at the Ave Maria Invitational.</p><p>Florida College coach Trenton Roth believes McCort can place in the top half of the runners at nationals.</p><p>“Caleb is probably not going to be an All-American this year, but we want him to get the experience because we think he might be able to get back next year,” Roth said. “In fact, we think we might be able to get back here next year as a team.</p><p>“He dealt with a little bit of an injury as a sophomore, but put in a really good summer and came back in great shape. I’m thrilled with how he’s progressed this year.”</p>