Cross Country

Eligibility:

For Cross Country, all the same standards apply as for other DPL sports. Teams consist of 1 or more persons. No combination teams. Athletes may age up (i.e. a 5th/6th grader running Varsity), but not vice versa. In order for a runner to participate in the City Meet (10/29/2022), a runner must run in 2 of the preliminary meets to qualify. 

Uniforms:
Uniforms are not required of each participant; however, they can be very helpful. At a minimum, schools are asked to have their athletes dress in the same color scheme with something that identifies their school. This will allow for easier and quicker placement on the starting line. Athletes may wear watches for pacing, but all other jewelry is prohibited.

Arrival:
Once you arrive, please get your kids together in a group to take a brief roll call, warm-up, stretch, etc. Once settled the coach must check-in at the registration table.

Time Schedule (approximate):
JV Girls 7:30 am
JV Boys 7:45 am
Varsity Girls 8:00 am
Varsity Boys 8:15 am
*These are the times that the divisions start their respective races. Please allow enough time to register and warm-up. We've moved the start back slightly due to daylight / sunrise.

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Please make sure your athletes have water, we will not have facilities at the course. 

Race Logistics:
All participants for a given Division will be called to the Start Line approx. 5 minutes prior to their race beginning. Cones will divide the starting positions, with each school being guaranteed equal placement on the starting line. Volunteers will be positioned along the course to help make sure everyone is headed in the right direction.

Course Length (approx):
JV Girls & JV Boys 1.5 miles
Varsity Girls & Varsity Boys 2.0 miles

Health:
Please make sure that the kids warm up properly. There will be no interaction with streets or cars. The courses are very safe from that standpoint, but they do involve uneven terrain, so please make sure the kids are aware of this.

Finish Line: 

As runners cross the finish line, they will be handed a color-coded card. Coaches will need to complete the card, adding runner name and school, and submit the card to the registration table before leaving. Please make sure you write legibly and do not use school abbreviations on the card. 

Coaches are required to:
*Arrive Early
*Get their teams assembled and warmed-up
*Help get athletes placed at Start line
*Acquire Place card immediately after each race.
*Submit Place cards for each division to Scoring Table.
Coaches are prohibited from:
*Running or driving alongside athletes to pace, offer encouragement, etc.

Scoring:
The results from the first three meets are for mythical team titles; however, we will award ribbons to the top 8 finishers in each category for weeks 1, 2, and 3. We will have an Awards Ceremony at the Championship Meet (meet #4). After the 1st meet, we will look at participation numbers to determine how many runners will be needed per team to score. In years past, it has been either 3 or 4 runners.

Coaches may time their kids if desired; however, placement of finish is what really matters in cross country as the courses vary in distance and difficulty from week to week.