HS cross country meets - how do they work?
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Anonymous
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Can someone tell me how cross country meets work in Fairfax County? The schedule says a 5pm start. I assume everyone (boys and girls) don't run at the same time. Are there JV and Varsity races? Who runs varsity?
My kid has something after the meets so trying to figure out how late we will be 
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Anonymous
| following. I have questions on this too. We have weekday races and weekend races. |
Anonymous
| You should be able to find from previous years schedule. But generally the runners cannot just show up for their race and leave. The team travels together to and from the race, unless there is some really valid reason don't think the coaches are going to appreciate - but that depends on the coach. |
Anonymous
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The week day races are usually JV and have a limited number of runners. Weekend races are invitational and for Varsity. I think 10 girls/10 boys can run in those.
If your kid is not in the top 20 runners- they might not run in meets. |
Anonymous
So how is XC a no cut sport? And how does one find out where our runner stands? My DC has been going to all the practices and we have been provided a schedule with a variety of meets. But it's still unclear who runs when. |
Anonymous
| It's a no-cut sport because anyone can be on the team, but may not get to compete. Baseball at our school is both a sport that cuts AND if you make it, you can certainly ride the bench all year long and not see a single second of game play. |
Anonymous
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I think you're better off emailing your coach or talking to parents who have seen how your coach operates in the past. Each team/coach seems to have its own way of handling meets/attendance expectations/etc.
Our team has cuts, but it is still very large (over 100 total athletes some years). Despite the large size of the team, all athletes get to compete in meets. The weekend invitationals usually have multiple tiers of competition (10 varsity athletes, 10 JV, sometimes 10 freshman or freshman/sophomore as well). For our team, the weekday meets usually only include those that have not recently been in a weekend invitational. Our team also has one or two weekend invitationals at further destinations that only the top 10-15 runners go to. Runners not competing in our weekday meets generally run a workout before the meet and then are expected to stay to cheer on their teammates. For the weekend invitationals, only the athletes competing need to attend. I've seen people say on this site that their team has athletes that never compete in meets, but I am not aware of any teams that this is true for. I know of some teams that seem to only compete in weekday meets and run all their athletes there, and many other teams that seem similar to ours with top athletes competing in weekend invitationals and the rest of the team competing in the weekday meets, and a few teams where athletes seem to compete at both the weekday and invitational meets. |
Anonymous
| PP, also, to answer your original question about the meets. On weekdays, usually girls compete first, and then half an hour or so later the boys compete. The weekend invitationals usually have a published schedule and your coach should give the athletes expectations on when to show how up and how long they are expected to stay. |
Anonymous
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Weekday meets are open to the whole team.
You can't ust show up, run, and leave. There's a post-run cool down, stretching, and usually a brief team meeting/coach re- cap at the end. Invitationals are for varsity, top 5 runners, or seniors or a mix thereof (coach dependent so ymmv). There's usually a steep registration fee the coachsles pay for (hence the fundraising) and limited slots so therefore only a select number of kids go. |
Anonymous
Everyone runs in meets. If you’re not among the top finishers, all that means is the run won’t count towards the team’s score. |
Anonymous
| 12:16 and 12:18 have the best advice. I would encourage your kid to ask the coach, or even better, a captain, to explain the specifics of how it works in your school/league. |
Anonymous
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No cut doesn’t mean running in meets. Running in meets is based on times and it can change week to week who is running.
I have never heard of a meet in FCPS that allows all runners on the team. |
Anonymous
We received an email today with who is running in the first invitational- it has 10 boys/10 girls. Did your team do a time trial? If yes- does your child no where their time falls in the stack of runners? On our HS team- it is widely known who is V, JV and just a practice attendee. Reach out to the coach and inquire about how all this works for your HS |
Anonymous
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At our HS, everyone runs in the weekday FCPS meets except the really good runners. They are running in the weekend invitationals and typically skip the weekday meets until the meets start counting for playoffs.
The kids are bussed to the running location. The boys run first and the girls second. Once it's over, they annouce who had the best times and which school won. There are usually multiple schools at a meet, not just 2 competing against each other. When it's over, I drive my DC home, although some kids ride the bus back to school. I usually show up around 5:45 for a 5:00 meet so I can see DC run. Weekend invitationals are much bigger deal. |
Anonymous
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OP- did you ask the coach?
There is a big invitational meet on 9/7 |