The cross country team’s run at a section title ended at the sub-section meet Nov. 8.

Well, not at the meet, which took place in San Andreas, but in Fairfield, 90 miles away. That’s where the team van, driven by coach Nick Domich, ended up after a wrong westbound turn onto state highway 12 on the way to the race.

By the time star runner junior Marco Siragusa finally saw a sign which pointed out that the team was in the wrong location, the team had driven the wrong way for almost an hour, and was too far away from the race course to arrive on time.

The ensuing scene saw tears from Siragusa, who had previously posted the fastest time in the section—and from Domich.

And the worst part—these were the sub-sections. In other words, all a Division V runner had to do in order to qualify for the section finals was cross the finish line.

The Cavaliers, favored to win the section, never even came close to crossing the starting line.

Athletic director Matt Vargo appealed to the section, hoping that even if a team title was out of the question, the runners would be allowed to compete as individuals. However, the section’s bureaucracy won out, as bylaws were deemed more important than athletic competition.

The absurd moment ended the cross-country career of senior Miles Bennett-Smith, who had qualified for the state championships every year of his high-school career.

Siragusa, who had been preparing all year for this title run, will now have to focus his efforts on next season.

And Domich will likely spend much of his spare time wondering what could have been possible for his team had he turned the steering wheel in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, despite all of the energy and time he spent in the last three months helping his runners develop and prepare, nothing can change what happened.

Is this really how things were meant to be? Well, mental lapses are commonplace in sports, and have brought heartbreak to countless players and teams over the years.

And, yes, bad decisions by coaches have cost teams championships. So many times in football, a coach will burn a timeout, have the wrong personnel on the field, or mismanage the clock, denying his team the chance at that elusive last-second field goal attempt.

But Domich did not make some mistake in on-field strategy. He simply did what many people have done when driving to a place they have never been before—he turned the wrong way, and got lost.

But normally, this leads simply to a late arrival, and does not send an entire team home demoralized.

Yes, the coach, and really the entire team, have to take reponsibility for this error. A serious, but commonplace, mistake was made, and there were plenty of chances for someone to realize that the team’s season was literally “headed in the wrong direction”—at some point, no one realized that the team had crossed over Interstate 5, headed west.

But a silly mistake such as this has nothing to do with the speed of the runners, or how hard they had worked for the chance to advance to the state title.

The section should realize that these runners are athletes, and that the cross country meet is a test of how fast these athletes can run, and how much endurance they have. It is not a test of the coach’s sense of direction.

The section has its bylaws, but its officials should understand the spirit of competition, and allow the runners to compete.

One thing is for sure: next year, the team will be sure to turn the right way, and will arrive at the starting line for sub-sections.