Keeping Things CoolMedia Day. Course Build. Midnight Marathon. Neural Day. Long Run. Frisbee Fun. A lot has happened since the last newsletter. Our second week of official season has been much cooler and more predictable than the first, and it feels like that's really allowed us to hit a rhythm before races start showing up on the calendar.
The Week AheadMonday 8/24 (3:30-5:45PM): Neural Day at School (Bring Spikes). Another neural day similar to the previous weeks, but with additional volume for some. Tuesday 8/25 (4:30-6:45PM): Lunar Long Run at Perry County Community Lake. This will be our last run at the lake for a while. Due to the senior retreat, we will start a bit later. We will also head to Luna's afterwards for some treats. Wednesday 8/26 (3:30-5:15PM): Recovery Run/Fun Day at School (Bring Spikes). We'll discuss the upcoming Jackson Meet before doing a recovery run and playing either kickball or capture the flag. Thursday 8/27 (3:30-4:45PM): 48-Hour Workout at Course (Bring Spikes) This is the workout we always do two days before a meet. It's generally short but with some quality work. Our first pasta dinner will follow at 6PM hosted by the Welkers and Tomlinsons. Friday 8/28 (3:30-4:45PM): Pre-Race Workout at Course. This will be the same workout as the previous Friday. Saturday 8/29 (6:15AM-???): Jackson Meet. Our first meet of the season. See below for more details. Jackson Meet PreviewThe Jackson Meet has been the first race of the season for our team since the beginning of our program. In fact, the meet was the very first ever for SV Cross Country back in 2011. Unlike our other meets, the races at Jackson are only 2 miles rather than the standard 5K. Furthermore, races are divided by grade rather than Varsity/JV, with the freshmen racing first and boys starting 2 minutes after the girls. Unlike the typical setup, team scoring is based off the first four runners for boys and first three runners for girls. Sadly that means only our junior boys and freshman girls will score. Boys starting times for each grade are below.  Most years there are roughly 30 schools and more than 500 runners across all races, so expect crowds. If spectators arrive super early, they can sometimes find spots along the main drive through the park. Otherwise, they will need to park at the swimming pool. If that fills up, there is a gravel lot near the skate park, and even that can sometimes get quite a few vehicles. The start and the finish of the course are right next to each other, and runners pass that same area in the middle of the race. Our team tent is also fairly close, so it's an ideal location for spectators. Otherwise the course goes pretty much all over the north side of the park, so there are many parts of the course with minimal spectators to cheer runners on. If you are the more adventurous type, consider watching at one of those spots. Timing will be done by Big River Race Management, and so you should be able to find the meet and access live/final results here on race day. There will be an award ceremony after the final race, with medals going to the top 25 finishers in each race. That should include at least a few of our runners, so please consider sticking around.  Meet ExpectationsAll athletes are expected to travel to meets on the bus with the team. Athletes are encouraged to return from meets on the bus. We usually stop somewhere to eat, and it's a good opportunity for athletes to debrief their race experiences together while supporting and celebrating each other. However, we recognize that at times plans will make this unfeasible. The evening before each meet, a survey will be posted in the parent GroupMe asking whether your child will be riding the bus home. The poll will remain open until the conclusion of the meet. If an athlete is not riding the bus home, it is imperative that this be indicated in the survey so that we are not waiting/searching for an athlete who left long ago. Athletes not riding the bus must either leave with parents or else a coach must receive direct communication from a parent stating who an athlete is allowed to leave with. An athlete telling a coach "My mom said I could ride with So-and-So" doesn't work. If an athlete isn't riding the bus, we do still prefer that they remain for as much of the meet as possible. We are one team. We might race at different times, but we compete as a team, and it's important to recognize that by supporting teammates in other races. Meet Uniform RulesQuestions about uniforms for races come up a lot regarding what an athlete can or can't wear. The rules have become much less strict in recent years, but sometimes the old rules are still spread among parents and runners as if they are still in effect. We have linked the current uniform rules from NFHS, the governing body for high school sports whose uniform rules the state follows. You are welcome to read them in their entirety, but below are a few points of emphasis that come into play during the season.
New Parent's Guide to Cross CountryWe know cross country is a sport that many new parents have had minimal exposure to before. This can create a lot of questions, especially on meet days. The easiest way to learn is to experience meets firsthand, but we've made a guide for new parents that hopefully answers a lot of questions they either might have or never even thought of. It doesn't cover everything, so if parents have additional questions, feel free to reach out to veteran parents or coaches. Season Mowers NeededDuring the season, our team practices quite frequently on our course at the picnic grounds, with some weeks seeing us there as many as 4 times. After the home meet, we pretty much run exclusively on the front loop of our course rather than on the back loop we spent most of the summer using. The grass isn't going to slow down its growth any time soon, meaning we are in need of volunteers to keep the front loop mowed the rest of the season. Even though everything was mowed on Saturday, the grass is already quite tall in places, especially the starting stretch. We should be able to manage for the practices the next few days. After this weekend, our next practices at the course are 8/27 and 8/28. It will definitely need to be mowed before then. Everything will get mowed on 9/1 for our course build, but with the way the grass is currently growing, it will likely need to be mowed each week for the foreseeable future after that. By October that might slow enough to stretch things out a bit. After the home meet we generally won't be on our course on the weekend, making it an ideal time to mow. If you would be able/willing to mow the course any week, please sign up using this form.  Hotels for StateIt seems early to be talking about the state meet, but there is good reason. The state meet will once again be at the Gans Creek Recreation Area in Columbia. Races for all classes span Friday November 6 and Saturday November 7. We will not know our race day/time with certainty until classifications are released next month. However, given the new Championship Factor rules and the drop in our enrollment with the outgoing senior class, it's fairly likely that both our boys and girls will compete in Class 1. That would put both races on Saturday November 7, with the girls racing at 9AM followed by the boys at 9:45. Class 1 also gives both teams a reasonable chance to make it out of districts and qualify for the meet. Once classifications are announced with certainty, we will let you know. However, if there is any chance you would plan to attend the state meet and stay in a hotel the night before, we would strongly recommend booking rooms now, preferably ones with free cancellation. The school will provide travel and lodging for any individual qualifiers as well as for the seven runners and alternates on any qualifying team. This has already been reserved. However, parents/families and any other individuals (including other team members) will have to coordinate their own lodging and transportation. Unlike other sports where only the final four teams make it to state, 16 teams from each class will be competing, which with all of their fans factored in means lots of hotel demand. Mizzou football is also playing Texas at home that Saturday. With their game scheduled to start at 11AM, hotels for Friday will be in extremely short supply. Once hotels fill up in Columbia, there isn't much in the surrounding area to turn to. Occasionally you can find hotel rooms the week of state that open up when teams that don't qualify cancel, but this is no guarantee. We just wanted to give a heads up so you can take action now. Athlete ChecklistThere are a lot of things that need to be turned in/accomplished as the season begin, and it can be hard to keep track of it all. We've created a checklist where you can see all of these things and whether an athlete has completed them. It also shows an athlete's progress toward the 14 practice days required in order to be eligible to race (most are in great position). You can access the checklist here. At this point it should be up to date, but if you believe there are any mistakes, please contact Mr. McLain. Second Course Build DayWe got a lot done during our first course build day last Saturday, but there is still a lot that needs to be done before 9/3. That includes mowing/weed eating everything again, finishing twine boundaries, painting the course, setting out picnic tables, prepping the bathroom, concession stand, and parking areas, and more. Our second build day is on Tuesday 9/1 at 4:30PM. We'll try to get everything done in between practice and our family potluck. If you would like to sign up for a job on this day, that form can be found here. Thank you to everyone who has already signed up to help! Family PotluckFollowing the second course build day on 9/1, we have our team family potluck dinner. This takes the place of a pasta dinner for our home meet and provides an opportunity for not just athletes but families to gather together. Parents and siblings of athletes are invited. The main course will be chicken from the American Legion, with the other sides and items provided potluck style by families. To cover the cost of the chicken, drinks, and tableware, we are asking for $3 per person high school age and up and $2 for students in grades K-8. Anyone younger is free. We do ask that you RSVP using this form with how many people from your family will be attending no later than 8/27 so that we can get the chicken order placed and make sure we have enough. Payment can be made by the following means:
To cover the other items (salads, sides, and desserts), we are asking that each family bring a dish. On the RSVP form there is the ability to list the dish(es) you will bring. Please select the type of item you will be bringing and then add a description in the comments section. While in the form, if you click on "View Current Responses" at the bottom, you can see what people have already signed up to bring so we don't get 28 potato casseroles. You should also get a confirmation email from which you can edit your response in case you need to make any changes. Pasta Dinner SignupsThank you to all of the families who have stepped up to serve as either primary or secondary hosts for our pasta dinners! Currently every dinner has a primary host, but they could all use more secondary hosts, particularly the dinners on Tuesday 9/22 and Wednesday 10/28. Every athlete attends these dinners and benefits from the food and hospitality there, and so we would ask that each family sign up to help in some capacity. It takes the village to pull them all off, and it isn't fair for some families to take on this responsibility without help from others. Families that haven't already signed up can do so using this form. Meet Snack FeeThere are still a few families that have not paid the snack fee for this season. We are asking that each family contribute $40 to help cover the cost of snacks, water, and electrolytes not only at all meets, but it also helps with snacks and electrolytes provided at all hard workouts this season, as well as the Snocker Dollars that are awarded to the top performers after every meet. We promise you are getting your money's worth. Just in the last week alone athletes received
If families have not already paid the fee, that can be done via the following means:
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