Have you ever felt like you were doing the work of two people? Well, as head coach of both the menís and womenís cross country teams here at Bowling Green State University, Cami Wells literally does do the work of at least two people.

University budget cuts and the offseason departure of menís coach Sterling Martin have given coach Wells the challenge of managing the schedules of both the menís and womenís cross country team, as well as assisting in coaching the schoolís track team. With all these responsibilities, Wells finds herself spending the majority of her time here at Bowling Green State University.

ìI do not have alot of time outside of work,î Wells said.

With the absence of an assistant coaching staff, Wells handles the responsibilities of coaching both teams almost completely by herself. The only assistance she gets is the voluntary assistance of her younger sister Becki, who herself was a national champion cross country runner at the University of Florida and will be trying out for the 2004 Olympic Games.

ìBecki has helped out alot; she volunteers whenever she can,î Wells said.

Wells is a native of Dickinson, North Dakota, where she attended Dickinson High School. She then went on to Drake University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Biology in 1995. She earned her Masters Degree in Education and Sports Administration from Wichita State University.

During her running career, Wells compiled an impressive list of accomplishments. In high school she was a State Champion in the 800-meter race in 1988 and 1990. While competing for Drake University from 1990-1995, she lettered every year. In addition to this, Wells was a three time Missouri Valley Conference champion, twice in the 3000-meter and once in the 4 x 800 meter relay, eight-time All-Conference, and a 16-time conference medalist runner. She also qualified for the NCAA Cross Country meet in 1992.

Wells is entering her fourth year of coaching here at Bowling Green State University. Prior to coming to BGSU she was a coach at Wichita State University while pursuing her Masters degree there. During her time at Wichita State University she coached two conference champions. In addition, Wells had eight medal winners in distances from 1,500 to 10,000 meters on her squad. In 1997, her womenís cross country squad won the Missouri Valley Conference Championship.

Wells likes to spend what free time she does have watching other sports. She particularly enjoys watching her 17-year-old brother Bradley compete on the Bowling Green High School Cross Country and Track teams. She also enjoys going up to Detroit to take in a Tigers game and watching all the other Bowling Green teams compete.

However, most of Wellsí time is devoted to her men and women harrier squads. Having to balance the practice and workout schedules of 2 squads and the schedules of 30 runners means some long days. Her days usually start with the teamís 6:30 a.m. run and many times does not end until the last runners finish their evening workouts after 7:30.

To help alleviate some of the burden of coaching two teams at the same time, Wells delegates some of the leadership responsibilities to her team captains and senior runners. On the womenís side this includes captains Christy Paine and Sarah Lohrbach, and a nucleus of senior runners that includes Kristin Spicer, Katrina Kerns, Cyndi Bostdorff and Briana Killian. On the menís side, senior Troy Stiles and graduate student runner Mario Rothmund help Wells lead the younger runners into competition in the MAC.

Wellsí runners are also a very important part of her life. ìShe is always open to suggestions and tries to do what is best for everybodyís needs,î senior runner Troy Stiles said. In order to accommodate the different school schedules of her runners, Wells on certain days will run four different workouts.î

What sets Wells apart from other coaches is her demeanor while dealing with her runners.

ìShe is very soft-spoken and subdued,î Stiles said. ìI was not sure what to expect coming in. I had never had a female coach before. I am surprised how much I like running for her. Her workouts are good and she is easy to get along with.î