A Big Day for Runners

Oct. 29, 2004

The University of Iowa will dedicate its new Ashton Cross Country Course on Sunday, Oct. 31, immediately prior to the 2004 men’s and women’s Big Ten Cross Country Championships. The public is invited to attend the dedication and the competition.

The Ashton Cross Country Course is adjacent to the UI Athletics Hall of Fame on Hawkeye Park Road in Iowa City, accessible from both Mormon Trek Boulevard and Melrose Avenue. When not being used by the UI teams for practice or competitions, the course will be available for recreational use by members of the UI and surrounding communities.

The course is named in recognition of the generosity of brothers Bill Ashton and Jim Ashton, who contributed a total of $30,000 to the UI Foundation to enable the course’s construction. Both brothers are graduates of the UI College of Engineering and longtime UI contributors. They made their gift in memory of their former Hawkeye cross country coach, the late Francis X. Cretzmeyer.

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