The Collegian

Issue date: 9/11/08 Section: Sports

Nate Thompson takes a breath during the Michigan State Invitational last weekend in Lansing, Mich. {Andrew Dodson/Collegian}

This year's cross country team offers a different family aspect which probably no athletic program in the nation can boast. Between the men and women's squads, there are four pairs of twins.

Juniors Andrew and Alison Budd are the oldest pair of twins. Both attended Taylor University initially but later transferred to Hillsdale, their hometown.

"It is a little harder for Alison and me to trick people than it would be for the other twins on the team since we have one minor difference - our gender," Andrew said. "I suppose I could try growing my hair out and dominating all the women's events."

"It is nice to have him there encouraging me and pushing me," said Alison. "I always hear his voice above everyone else and it always motivates me."

Sophomores Kelly and Kerry Frost are from Texas and quite possibly the hardest to tell apart among all the twins.

"Although we are twins, we are two very different people with different running abilities," said Kelly. "Whether Kerry crosses the line first or I come in ahead of her, it doesn't really matter as long as we both did our very best that day. Whenever Kerry does come in first though, she never leaves the finish line without me."

Freshmen Kaitlin and Kayla Eash hail from Indiana, where they attended the same high school as sophomore runner Chuck Wysong. Wysong's brother Jeff is a freshman on the team this year also.

"I hear people yell, 'Go, Kayla!' during races sometimes, and I know they're cheering for me because Kayla ran passed them a long time ago," said Kaitlin Eash. "It's pretty much like they're mocking me and my not-so-fastness."

Jordan and Josh Eccleston use their haircuts to help people distinguish each other. Jordan sports the longer name and hair, while Josh has the shorter of both.

"Having Josh on the team motivates me to be better," said Jordan Eccleston. "It is an advantage - I never lost to him in high school and I don't want to lose to him in college."

While all these doubles have different personalities, running styles, and in some cases gender, they do have one thing in common: they will always have a running partner.

In practice, football teams run plays, volleyball teams run drills and cross country teams just run. Their sport was once thought of as punishment in grade school, yet every day members of the Hillsdale cross country teams push their hearts to the limit to prepare for yet another run.

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