Cross-country is a team running sport. Each scoring team consists of at
least 5 members, with 7 being the maximum running on the same course at the
same time. The first five team members are scored directly by adding their
relative places at the finish as compared to the finishers from other scoring
teams. The sixth and seventh runners’ times and places are held in reserve
in case of a tie. The winning team will be the team whose total score is
the smallest. A perfect score of 15 is scored when a team has its first five
team members finish in the first five places in the race.
Boys run a course
that is 5 KM/3.1 miles long. Girls run a course that is 4 KM/2.5 miles long.
Courses are run mostly on grass (golf courses and parks are most commonly
used as sites for races), and the terrain varies from hilly to flat from
course to course.
What do you need to participate in Cross Country?
A positive attitude. Having a positive attitude will help make the workouts
seem less like work, keep you on track to achieving your goals, and make
even the biggest challenges seem smaller.
A good pair of running shoes. (This
does not necessarily mean an expensive pair of running shoes). You can buy
shoes from Run N- Fun, Runners Edge, Marathon Sports, or any of the other
running stores around. Most of them will offer a discount for high school
runners (Run N Fun has been good to us in the past and is located on Randolph
Avenue near Victoria, East of CDH). Some athletes may want to buy a pair
of spikes for the races. These shoes can be purchased at the same stores
and are optional. Most of the top varsity and junior varsity runners will
have them, but it is up to you.
A watch with a stopwatch (optional). Having
a watch with a stopwatch can help you to track your progress from week to
week. It would also be helpful for some of the workouts that are run based
on timed intervals.
Practices
In August practices will be held from 7:30 AM until 9:30 AM. Expect to
be running between 20 and 35 miles (total) this first week dependent on your
fitness level when the season starts.
When teacher workshops and student orientation starts we will switch to a
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM practice time.
We will be increasing mileage as the weeks progress with maximum mileage
reaching around a 50 mile week, which will include a long run of at least
10 miles.
Intensity at practice will vary from easy to hard; with a variety of workouts(Intervals,
Repeats, Fartleks, Tempo Runs, Easy Running...). We will be running 95% of
the time we are at practice.
Meets
Our first competition will be the second week of the season. Prior to
that we will have a race with the Alumni which will give us the opportunity
to
challenge ourselves and run hard.
Week day meets will be held after school. The majority of them will start at
3:15 PM. All of these meets have opportunities for all the runners on our team.
Everyone is encouraged to race.
Weekend meets will be held in the mid-morning or early afternoon. With the
exception of the Roy Griak meet all of our athletes can participate in all
of these meets. Generally these are larger events with 20 or more teams competing.
Transportation
Transportation via bus will be provided for all the athletes on the team
to and from meets. See the schedule for departure times.
Goals
As individuals and as a team we have accomplished great things, 3 conference
championships, numerous all-conference awards, sent athletes to the State
Meet, and improved our times and overall fitness. This year will hold the
same types of success for us if we start setting our goals now and talking
about them. As a team we need to help each other achieve our individual goals
which will in turn help us accomplish our team goals.
Awards
At the end of the season we will have a banquet at Mancinni’s. There we
will celebrate our accomplishments as individuals and as a team.
Individual awards include:
MVP, Most Improved, 110% (elected by the team members)
Athletic Letter
(earned by coming to practices and meets, having a positive attitude,
supporting your teammates, and giving your best effort to everything you
do)