Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• Meet entry fees

• Racing uniforms

  • These are distributed to the athletes prior to the first race, cared for by the athletes through the season, and returned to the coach at the end of the season.

• Bus transportation to and from off-campus practices and local meets

• Tent/canopy used at meets

A portal will be available through the Stag Store to pay your fee for joining the cross country team (check back in August 2026).

Note: Your team fee includes a $30 weight room fee good for the entire school year (i.e., all three athletic seasons - fall, winter, and spring). If your son participates in another sport after cross country, please be sure to discuss with his winter and/or spring coach so this fee may be waived for their season.

There are various offerings for walk-in physicals.

• Patient First offers walk-in sports physicals for $55 without insurance.

• College Park Medical Center's Urgent Care offers sports physicals for $85 without insurance.

• CVS MinuteClinics offer sports physicals for $82 without insurance.

• DeMatha offers physicals one day every summer at a significantly lower cost.

  • In 2026, sports physicals will be offered on campus on Tuesday, June 16 from 12:00pm to 3:30pm. The cost is $30

For text alerts, subscribe to Important Notifications updates (click HERE for setup instructions).

Additionally, cancellations are typically announced by the school via an email blast.

The coaching staff tracks which athletes attend practices throughout the summer and fall.

• Attendance is voluntary for all summer workouts between June 1 and August 12.

• Attendance is expected beginning August 12 when fall sports are officially in-season.

• New for 2026, we are using Attendance Points to track athlete participation. Think of these points like those you earn on your license for traffic violations.

  • Points are accumulated for absences, suspensions, or unexcused lateness. See the Rules & Expectations page for more specific details.

    • Attendance Points do not begin accumulating until school is in session.

  • Emails will automatically be sent daily to parents and athletes if they were not at practice for any reason, with a brief generic description and a summary of attendance points earned, if applicable.

    • These emails generally do not require a response, but if there appears to be an error you should follow up with the head coach for clarification.

Athletes and parents need to review the schedule at the beginning of the season and let Coach know if there are any meets he cannot make. In most cases, entries must be submitted to meet directors at least a week in advance of the actual meet day.

If an unanticipated event occurs, the athlete should text, email, or call Coach as soon as possible.

Training shoes (you will be told if you should bring racing spikes, but this only happens once or twice a season)

• If you forget proper running shoes, you'll not be permitted to run at practice.

Comfortable running clothes

• When the temperature is under 60˚ F, long pants and long sleeve shirts should be worn to begin practice and may be removed for the run once you've sufficiently warmed up.

Watch

• Runs are almost always time-based. It is crucial that athletes be able to track their time so they return when coaches expect them to. A watch with GPS and heart rate monitor are nice to have but are not required.

Water bottle

• Please fill before practice; we have a finite supply in our cooler and that supply will go further if it is used for refills rather than the first fill-up.

Mat or towel

• A yoga mat is ideal as the padding comes in handy during stretching, yoga, and strength routines, especially when we are on hard surfaces, which is often the case.

• If you do not have a padded mat, a towel will at least help avoid scraped hands/knees or direct contact with itchy grass.

Bug spray/sunblock as needed

• Bug spray, in particular, is good to have when practicing at Greenbelt Park where insects like ticks and chiggers are present. Even when using spray, always check yourself after practice; it takes approximately 24 hours for ticks to transmit most diseases (such as Lyme), though some diseases can be transmitted more quickly. Finding them before going to bed after practice will prevent illness to a high degree.

  • If you find a tick, properly remove it using tweezers without twisting. It is recommended you seal the tick securely in a plastic/ziploc bag with a slightly damp paper towel or cotton ball inside, consider double-bagging it, date the bag, and store in a cool place. If you notice any symptoms of tickborne illness, seek medical attention and talk to your doctor about options for submitting the tick for testing.

Yes - the school and coach provide a tent and tarp, among other items, for athletes to use during a meet. Athletes are responsible for loading these items onto the bus prior to leaving for the meet. They are also responsible for unloading the bus and setting up the team area upon arrival at the meet. 

We schedule our departure and arrival times to provide the required time to set up our area, visit the rest room, get race information, and warm up prior to the first race. Late arrivals are avoided as they create unneeded stress and do not provide for optimal race performance.

Additionally, team unity is built when athletes ride to and from a race together.

For special circumstances (e.g., you live five minutes from the meet), please discuss with Coach prior to race day.

Athletes are not allowed to leave a meet until they have done a cool-down run (approx. 10 to 30 minutes) and all equipment is packed up and loaded onto the bus.

• Athletes are responsible for packing up items (i.e., tent, tarp, water cooler, etc.) after the meet and putting them back on the bus. They are also responsible for unloading the bus upon its return to DeMatha.

• Once everything is packed up and loaded on the bus, if the Return Trip form has been given to Coach and he's approved, athletes may leave with a designated driver.

• Athletes are strongly encouraged to remain for awards ceremonies. If an athlete has earned an award, it shows respect for the other competitors to stay and accept the award. And even if an athlete has not earned one, it shows good team spirit to support your teammates who did and good sportsmanship to applaud our competitors who earned awards.

• One additional thing to keep in mind - team unity is built when athletes ride to and from a race together and when they encourage each other during their races. For this reason, it is strongly encouraged that athletes stay through the meet and ride the bus back to school from a meet.

Note: If you want your son to carpool with another athlete or parent to a meet, the two sections of the Carpool form must be completed by the involved parties and given to coach before the day of the meet.

Each athlete on a team earns approximately the same number of points as his place in the race (athletes on incomplete teams do not score and are skipped for the purposes of awarding points for team scoring).

The top five athletes on a team "score" in a traditionally scored meet.

The team with the lowest number of points wins the meet. In the event of a tie between two or more teams, their respective sixth finishers break the tie.

• A perfect score in cross country is 15, where a team has five runners who finish in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. 1+2+3+4+5=15

Some meet directors require information about the school (i.e., the number of students) along with a list of athletes who will be competing at their meet. Once these details are submitted, the meet directors place each school into the appropriate division (i.e. small school or large school). At most meets, DeMatha is considered a large school since its student population is over 800 (generally, 500 students is the dividing line), but some meet directors classify DeMatha as a small school - presumably because we are a private school.

Athletes may not participate in out-of-season activities for a DeMatha team while in-season on another team's roster.

• This means athletes planning to participate in basketball, swimming, or any other winter sport may not begin working out with those teams until after the WCAC cross country championship and a minimum 3-day rest period between season.

• Athletes planning to participate in lacross, baseball, or any other spring sport are expected to finish out the cross country season with the Maryland Private School Championship the first week of November.

Most high school cross country races are 5 kilometers (3.1 miles).

• Occasionally, for a variety of reasons, Meet Directors may host a shorter race.

Meets generally are not cancelled for inclement weather; however, individual races will be suspended for thunder/lightning.

• So long as conditions are not dangerous (e.g., high winds, heavy rain, lightning), the team will practice in inclement weather.

• When possible, practices will be moved indoors in the event of severe weather. If not possible, practice will be cancelled.

Speak to your coach immediately, do not keep your suspicions to yourself.

See DeMatha's Athletic Training Staff to be evaluated. You may do this with or without a coach present, but always keep your coach informed of your injury and any discussion you have with the trainers about it.

• Wendy, Jenn, Robin, and the rest of our athletic training staff are all great resources and very knowledgable about a variety of sports injuries. Their expertise is invaluable and following their guidance will decrease your recovery time tremendously.

Race results are posted on various running websites.

Check Coach Puffett's Meet Recap page for all results.