"XC" is commonly used to refer to "Cross Country."

Cross Country meets are typically held on a college campus or a city/county park. Most high schools do not have a course on the school property so they are not able to host a Cross Country meet on their campus. Milton is very unique in that the Cross Country Booster Club built and maintains a course on the school campus. Cross Country meets are hosted either by the college where the meet is held or by a high school at a local park.

A standard cross country race for high school is 5K which is 3.1 miles.

A Cross Country meet can have as few as 2-3 teams or as many as 50-100 teams. The host of the meet will determine how many teams they can accommodate based on the course, surrounding area for team tents, parking area, and volunteers to support the meet. The majority of meets on Milton’s 2009 schedule are large meets and many schools will participate. The Alcovy Dual and the Milton Invitational will be smaller meets. The Fulton County Championship meet will only include schools from Fulton County. The Region meet will only include schools from Milton's region.

All meets are important but there are three that are especially important which are the Fulton County Championship, the Region Meet and the State Meet (assuming the Milton teams qualify). At the Fulton County Championship, there will be an “Overall” winner awarded to one of the schools in Fulton County. The calculation for this Overall award includes results from all 4 races (Varsity Boys, Varsity Girls, JV Boys and JV Girls). So, a school must have excellent JV teams in addition to Varsity teams to win this award. To some runners on the team, this award is the most exciting award to win during the season. The Region Meet is important because it determines what schools qualify for the State Meet. The top 4 teams in the Varsity races at the Region Meet qualify to participate in the State Meet. In addition, a runner may qualify to participate in the State Meet as an individual (regardless of whether or not the team qualifies) by placing in the top 6 in the varsity race at the Region Meet. The State Meet is very exciting as it determines the final ranking of the teams for the season. To place in the top 10 at State is considered extremely successful.

Cross Country is a sport that is conducted during the fall season for high school. It has one event for a runner which is a 5K race. The course for a Cross Country race will be on trails though woods and fields. The surface is usually natural, dirt, or crushed gravel. It is not a hard surface. Track and Field is a totally different sport and is conducted during the spring season. It has many events including running events with various distances. For Track events, runners run around a track (around the football field) which is a hard surface.

There are usually 4 races that our Milton Cross Country team competes in at a meet. These races are the Varsity Girls, Varsity Boys, JV Girls and JV Boys. There may be other races in some meets (i.e. middle school, etc.) but we compete in these 4 races. Each Varsity team (girls and boys) consists of the top 7 runners for most meets. There are some meets, such as the meet at Berry College, where the Varsity team consists of 10 runners. The JV team (for girls and boys) consists of the rest of our runners which is 50+ runners for Milton for our JV girls and JV boys. The coaches decide each week what runners will be running in the Varsity races for girls and boys and inform the team at practice. It is usually announced just a couple of days before each meet because the runners on the Varsity team may change from week to week based on the previous week’s results, injuries, etc.

The top 5 runners in each race for a school score points. The place that a runner finishes in a race is the same number of points he/she scores for their school. So, as you can tell, the lower the score, the better. Then these 5 individual scores are added together for the team score. For example, if the top 5 runners out of the 7 Varsity runners come in 1st, 4th, 6th, 13th and 20th then the team score for that race would be 44 (1+4+6+13+20). If a team "sweeps" finishing 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th, the score would be 15 (1+2+3+4+5) which would be a perfect score. But that rarely happens. If there is a tie between teams, the 6th runner is the tie breaker. Now, even if a runner does not come in the first 5 for the team, they can still be VERY important for the scoring process. A team may have a very “deep” team with all 7 finishing close together. Runners for Milton who don’t place in the top 5 for Milton may place before other team’s runners thus making the other team have a higher score. Therefore, as many runners as we have coming in close behind the top 5 runners creates a higher score for opponents. The coaches teach the runners this concept by creating “teams” during the Time Trial to simulate the scoring of an actual race.

"PR" is an acronym for "personal record." A personal record is a record set by each individual runner on a timed course. Each runner will set their initial "PR" at Time Trial. The goal is to beat one's PR at future meets.

All runners must meet at the school and ride the team buses to every meet. The coaches will send out a “meet information sheet” a couple of days before each meet. This information will have details for the meet including meeting times, race schedule, Varsity runners, and an estimated time the buses will return to Milton. The coaches will look at the race schedule which is decided by the host team to determine what time the buses will leave from Milton. They like to be at the meet venue 1 ½ hours before the first race so that they have time to set up and the runners in the first race have time to warm up. Many runners get very nervous before their race so it is important that they have ample time to prepare (both mentally and physically). Each meet will have its own race schedule. Typically, the order of the races is Varsity girls, Varsity boys, JV girls and then JV boys (but not always). In general, the buses leave very early in the morning for meets (as early as 5:30 AM or as late as 7:30 AM) and return in the afternoon. One exception to this is usually the Fulton County meet at Webb Bridge Park which is typically in the late afternoon (because they use the park for soccer games in the morning).

No, meets are not optional. Every runner is expected to run every race with the exception of the overnight meet at Furman University and the State Meet (which is only for Varsity runners and only if they qualify). Because of accommodation limitations, only a limited number of runners will be able to attend the Furman meet. In addition, there will be an additional fee to attend the Furman meet. Therefore, this meet is optional. Even if a runner is injured, he/she is expected to attend the meet and cheer on the team. Cheering for others on the team is a big part of the Milton team. It makes a difference to the runners to have fans along the course cheering them on. Boys are expected to cheer on the girls and vice versa.

All runners MUST ride the bus to the meet. The directions to the meet are on the website for parents who would like to come and support the team (not for parents to transport the runner). As for transportation home from meets... there is a change in transportation procedures from previous years with Cross Country. It is preferred and encouraged that all runners ride home from the meet on the bus. However, if necessary, a runner may ride home with their OWN parent if the parent signs the runner out by talking directly with Coach Destiche or Coach Boehm. Fulton County will NOT allow any runner to ride home with any other parent but their own parent. So, there will be no sign out sheet at the tent as in previous years. Only Coach Destiche or Coach Boehm has the authority to grant permission for a runner to leave with their own parent (please do not go to any other coach). Runners, you cannot sign yourself out with Coach Destiche or Coach Boehm. It must be the parent to find one of these coaches at the meet and gain permission to take a runner home from a meet.

Each team is assigned a starting box on the start line at every meet. The team is required to start in their assigned box. The starting boxes are usually small thus only a few runners from each team will be able to line up on the start line. The remaining runners will line up behind those on the start line. The coaches along with the team captains determine who will start on the start line taking into consideration the pace of runners, the size of the race, location of the starting box, geography of the start area, etc.

We have a wonderful snack and drink committee from the Cross Country Booster Club. It is a BIG job! If you think about 100+ runners and the amount of drinks that are needed, it is no small task. However, even with drinks, bagels, bananas, etc. at the meet, every runner should bring a water bottle to every meet. They need to be hydrating way before the coolers are set up at the meet. Most runners do not eat several hours before their race. However, if their race is not until 12:30 and they load the bus at 6:00 AM, they may eat in the morning. After the runner’s race, the runners often eat a meal either at the meet or on the way home from a meet. There is usually a concession stand at most meets (and many times with yummy Chick-fil-A sandwiches which are a favorite!) For some meets, the buses stop on the way home at a fast food restaurant to eat. Runners should bring money for either concessions or eating on the way home. In addition, most meets have t-shirts for sale at the meet. Many runners buy the t-shirts and then wear them on Monday to school. T-shirts are usually around $15-$20.

Most runners race in a pair of shoes called spikes. Spikes have plates on the bottom for removable metal spikes that help with traction during a race. In addition, spikes are very light weight. Spikes are not required and some runners will wear regular training shoes for races. Runners who wear spikes during a race only wear them during the actual race. Runners will wear regular training shoes to the meet and bring their spikes in their bag and change shoes before their race. With the metal spikes on the bottom, these shoes should not be worn on pavement.

Runners wear their uniform to meets. You will find that many runners will sleep on the bus to the meet. Runners can wear whatever they would like over their uniform but often will wear pajama pants & t-shirts (or pajama pants & sweat shirts when it is cold). When the weather is cooler, runners are allowed to wear white under garments for warmth during a race (but it must be white so that Milton runners are dressed alike). There may be a couple meets that runners may want a pair of gloves to wear. They will also bring a bag with their spikes (if you plan to wear spikes), extra shirt, personal snacks, water bottle, and money for snacks & lunch at the meet. Some will bring an iPod to listen to music on the bus and also while “hanging out” under the tent. You will also find many runners will bring a pillow (and a blanket when it gets colder).

Parents typically look at the race schedule that is listed on the meet information sheet to see what time their own child is running. Parents do not usually go as early as the buses but arrive at the meet in time to see the race(s) that interest them. Milton will have two red tents set up to use as a “base” for the team. The runners will keep their bags, pillows, etc. under this tent. The XC Booster Club Snack Committee will also set up the food & drink tables at the tents. Parents may want to bring a folding chair to use while waiting in between races. The runners usually sit on the ground (on tarps which are set up by the team). Parents can look for the Milton tents to find the team and then watch the races and cheer on the runners from various points along the course. The coaches usually post the course map on the tents for the runners and parents to review. Do not attempt to “run with” any runner along the side of the course during a race. A runner will be disqualified if anyone outside of the race runs along side a runner as it will be interpreted as helping with pacing. If you are at the site early enough, the Snack Committee can always use your help setting up the food table and cutting bagels, fruit, etc. Toward the end of the meet, they can use help cleaning up and putting everything away. Just ask and they will let you know how you can help.

If a runner has an inhaler, he/she must run the race with the inhaler. Do not keep the inhaler in your bag at the tent. The tent can often be a very long distance from where you need the inhaler. In addition, there will be 100+ bags under the tent (and many will be red!) and it is a difficult and stressful task for someone else to find an inhaler for someone who needs it in the middle or end of a race.