Wideman inks letter to run cross country at Ouachita
JESSIEVILLE — Jessieville senior cross country runner Lawson Wideman will be joining one of his teammates as a Ouachita Baptist Tiger this fall after signing to continue his career at the NCAA Division II school in Arkadelphia.
The third-place finisher at the Class 3A Arkansas State Cross Country Championships at Oaklawn in November will be joining fellow Lion Noah Lawson on the Tigers’ cross country team.
“I’ve been going to Super Summer at Ouachita for a long time, and me and my friend, Ben (Combs), … he runs cross country, but he’s not going to run at Ouachita,” Wideman said. “We’ve been saying we want to room there since the seventh grade. We’ve been going every summer, so that’s just kind of been like my goal.”
While having made his decision on a school at a young age, Wideman only contacted OBU’s program about running for them.
“That was the only school I talked to, and I knew if they offered me that’s, that’s instantly where I was going,” he said. “That’s where I wanted to go for so long, so that that’s what really sealed the deal for me. As soon as they offered, I was like, ‘I’ll take it.’”
Jessieville cross country coach Kodi Speers said that Wideman is one of those student athletes that puts in the extra time on his own and still helps out with others.
“He was consistent all year long, running in 17s, low 17s, all year long,” Speers said. “He’s actually my student aide this year for junior high athletics, so he’s been helping out younger kids all year. Just a great kid, the type of kid you want in your program. He’s working on his own. We might have practice, and he will have run before practice or
after practice just putting in extra time on his own. Just a great kid, and somebody that we’ve been fortunate to have in our program.”
A shy young man, Wideman is glad to know that he will have a friend and fellow Lion joining him on the team at OBU.
“It feels good because I’m kind of, I’m kind of a shy person, so I know — like when I go to this new team, I’m always gonna have him to rely on and talk to,” he said. “And he’s more of a talker, so he’ll kind of get me mixed in, too. He’ll he’ll kind of introduce me well because I probably wouldn’t do that very well just by myself. So it’s good to have him.”
Lawson said that while he is used to competing with Wideman, the two are still best friends. Once the race is over, they turn off the competitiveness that comes with running against each other.
“We always compete with each other, but we’re still best friends outside of the sport,” he said. “And so that’s that’s even more special. I feel like some people get drawn away from each other whenever they’re constantly competing with each other. But when it’s time to run, we compete with each other, but when it’s time to be friends, we’re friends.”