Cross Country 101
New to cross country? No problem! Welcome. Below are some snipets from Wikipedia to help you better understand cross country. if you have any questions, let us know.
Starting & Finishing
All runners start at the same time, from a starting or line marked with lanes on the field. An official, 50 meters or more in front of the starting line, uses an airhorn to start the race. Crossing the line or starting before the starting pistol is fired most often results in disqualification of the runner. Depending on the number of participants we have, not everyone on your team will be able to start with their foot on the line.
The course ends at a finish line located at the beginning of a chute (a long walkway marked with flags) that keeps athletes single-file in order of finish and facilitates accurate scoring. Everyone will be handed a slip of paper that will be turned into a scoring table near the exit of the finish chute. This will help us give all individuals a score and a time.
Scoring
Scores are determined by summing each of five individual finishing places on each team. Points are awarded to the individual runners, equal to the position in which they cross the finish line (first place gets 1 point, second place gets 2 points, etc.). The points for these runners are summed, and the low score wins.
For the Cross Country Team Challenge, we score all of the individuals together, but provide team awards based on the specific team categories.
Timing
Our event will be chip timed.
For more information, you can view Wikipedia or the USA Track & Field website.
