Program Information

Overview

The cross country program at CHMS is open to boys and girls in 6th - 8th grade.  No experience is necessary.  We focus on building fitness level through various running activities and maintain flexibility with dynamic stretching warm ups and static stretching at the end of practice.  The emphasis of the program is to have fun and foster a life long passion for running.  Many students go on to run cross country at MMU while others may pursue other sports.

We practice 3-4 times a week and participate in 4-5 meets each fall.  The season runs from the beginning of the school year to mid October.   

5th Graders

The running club program for 5th graders generally starts 2 weeks after school starts to allow them to get their bearings at CHMS before adding an after school activity.  Running club members do not attend the away XC meets, but will have the opportunity to run at the CHMS home meet.

Occasionally there are 5th graders who would like to participate in the longer and more frequent practices offered by the XC Team.   All 5th graders should start out in the running club.  After demonstrating both good fitness and responsible behavior, they may be invited to join the XC Team.

Practices

The team practices 3-4 times per week.  See the calendar for specific dates and times.  Practices start at 3:00 and are done by 4:30.    

Practices involve some whole team activities and other times runner are grouped by ability to go on longer runs.   We run on the trails and fields at CHMS, but also will run off campus to Browns Court field or Volunteers green.

While we encourage runners to attend all practices, we realize that students' schedules are busy and they may not be able to make all practices.  Attendance will be taken at each practice, so it is helpful if runners tell or email the coaches if they will not be at a practice or meet. 

Meets

We compete in meets at several schools during the season. Typically, all runners compete in the meets.  Meets are 3k (1.9 mi) races and generally start at 4:00 with boys and girls run separately. When possible, we try to let you know which group is running first.

We encourage runners to set individual goals, they can realize success even if they are not receiving individual awards.  We also have a tradition of supporting our teammates, so even if your child runs in the first group, we hope they can stick around to cheer on the other group.

Awards vary at each meet in terms of how many places are given ribbons and if there are separate awards for younger runners.  Besides individual ribbons, team results are calculated based on the top 5 finishes for each team.   Place numbers for the top 5 runners are added up and the team with the lowest score wins.  For example if we had runners finish 5, 15, 22, 31 and 40 we would have a team score of 113.

Transportation

Practices

Practices end by 4:30.  Please plan to pick up your child by this time.  There are late buses to each town which leave around 4:45 and go to the center of each town, not to individual bus stops.

Meets

School bus transportation is provided from CHMS to all meets after school.  Since many parents attend the races, we do not provide school bus transportation back to CHMS.  Please sign out your child with one of the coaches, so we can keep track of all our runners.

If you will not be at a meet, you can either have your child ride with a friend (complete pickup permision form)