I was right the first time. The first meet will be at Branch Brook Park in the Arts H.S. Invitational on Wednesday, October 1. Some of the other schools that I found out will be participating are Arts, Pingry, and Montclair Kimberly Academy. That leaves just five days of practice left before the meet.
Today was the first practice since Saturday's. I announced two PBs (Personal Bests) and then told the team about the meet next week. In a word, they were petrified. To a runner, the sport of Cross Country is totally new to them and to run in a meet for the very first time will be a traumatic experience for most of them especially since they are way behind all of the other schools in terms of training. My job is to get them ready physically as well as emotionally and psychologically.
After one of my sophomores went down with a sore leg (near the calf) on Saturday I decided to add a calf strengthening stretch to our daily warm ups. It was added with good intention but seemed to back fire. The seven runners who were there today took off for the 2.1 loop that we start each practice with. Four of the runners limped back long after they started, three with sore calves. I was planning to have our first intra-squad meet but with only three runners, it would have to be put off til tomorrow.
I then gave them a crash course on how the scoring in a X-C meet works and then we broke for the day.
In terms of the roster: we will be adding two more boys which will bring our total to five. They should have their medical papers completed soon and should join practice Friday or Saturday.
The girls were at seven on Saturday. One has since left the team and one that only showed up on the very first day of practice has rejoined the team. So we stay at seven, but the one who got hurt on Saturday is going to be out for abut two weeks, And another one has been to the doctor and has either an asthma or a heart problem. Which leaves us with five to run the race except one of the girls has her work program on Wednesday and will not be able to participate. So unless we come up with another girl, they will be running as individuals.
2 comments:
So what is the scoring for cross country?
To put it in a nutshell, the first five finishers on a team are involved in the scoring. The runner who finishes first gets 1 point, 2nd place gets 2 points, etc. The five runners' points are added up and the team with the lowest total is the winner. And the 6th and 7th runners on a team can "push back" runners who are anywhere from 1st to 5th on an opponent's team, but not get points for themselves.
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