Cross Country

Athletes have joined for various reasons. To be a part of a successful team, to be a great cross country runner, to develop stamina (sometimes for other sports), to meet good people and start the school year with a sense of unity, etc. Regardless of the reasons, by the end of the season you will have a sense of accomplishment and will be proud of what you have done.

We practice after school at one of the Butler County Metro parks. Lakota will transport athletes to the site. Practices last for 90 minutes. We try to be prompt and end on time.  Parents will be asked to pick athletes up at the practice site. 

Every athlete competes in every meet. There will be many races on meet days. Meets are competed in varying styles. Girls and boys will run separately.  Sometimes seventh graders will run with eighth graders, sometimes they are divided equally.  Sometimes they run as a top seven and open races. Our league has a separate seventh, eighth and open races for each gender. 

In the United States, cross-country running is normally scored on a team basis. Points are awarded to individual runners equal to the position in which they cross the finish line. Only the first five on each team count towards that team’s score. The sixth and seventh runners on each team are called “pushers” because, while they do not earn points for their team, they push up the point score of each opponent after them. In most cases, no runners after the first seven per team count in the scoring. 

Teams are awarded ranks based on the number of points their top five runners have, with the lowest score being the best. The rules in the event of a tie vary depending on the competition. Often, the team with the lower sixth place runner is the winner.

The lowest possible score is 15 (1+2+3+4+5), achieved by a team’s runners finishing in each of the top five positions.

We strongly encourage the athletes to pack the night before a meet.

Arriving at the Meet

• We will arrive at the course and find a common area for team camp. This camp is like our locker room. We ask that parents, siblings and friends please respect this.

• If there is enough time, we will warm up over the course and stretch along the way.

• The race is 2.0 miles.

• Following the race, we will run a team cool down over the course, This should be the entire 2 mile course by mid-season.

• Following the team cool-down run, all athletes will stretch.

• Following the complete cool down, athletes will check-out  with coaches and depart.

What to Pack

• Athletes should pack rain gear. A garbage bag works well to hold this gear.

• Water bottles

• Uniform

• A couple of pairs of dry socks (one to warm up with, one to race in and one to cool down in.

• Extra sweats, Athletes can always take them off if needed.

• Older shoes to warm up with and dry shoes to race in.

Buses are provided to get athletes to the meet. Parents will provide transportation home from the meet.

Locations will be provided on the itinerary before the meet.

$150 per athlete; Financial assistance is available through the Greater Cincinnati Foundation.

Email information will be obtained from the Final Forms registration. Please make sure that all contact information is updated through Final Forms.