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10 Facts For Cross Country
1. You must be academically eligible (have passed 5 out of 6 classes for high school students). You also must have a current physical. Physicals are good for one year, no matter what sport you got it for. To download a physical form, go to the link http://www.daculahighschoolathletics.com/ and scroll down to the bottom of the page.
2. A normal cross country race is a 5k (3.1 miles) on trails or grass.
3. A Varsity team consists of the top 7 runners (at certain races it’s 10). A JV team consists of the rest of the runners on a team.
4. The top 5 runners for a school score points. The place that a runner gets in a race is the same number of points he scores for his team. So the lower the team score, the better. For example, if a team swept the first five places in a race (a perfect score-happens very rarely), then their score would be a 15 (1+2+3+4+5=15). In case of a tie, then the scoring goes to the sixth runner. The team whose sixth runner came in first wins.
5. Most runners race in a pair of shoes called spikes, because they have plates on the bottom for removable metal spikes, for better traction. These are not required; some runners race in normal training shoes. However, they are strongly recommended not only because of the added traction, but because they are lighter too.
6. Water is EXTREMELY important for distance running. Your goal should be 64 oz (or 8 normal sized glasses) of water a day, but any water is better than none.
7. Be patient. Most varsity runners have been running for many years, and have built up to where they are. If you rush into too much mileage, you risk getting injured. Take your time; if you’ve never run before try doing it three days a week for a couple of weeks. Then take it to four, and increase your daily mileage slightly. After a couple of weeks of that, raise your mileage and the amount of days you are running again. The key is that the beginning runner never wants to make a huge jump. Keep track of your weekly miles, and make sure you are never jumping up more than 3-4 total miles per week.
8. Expect to feel really tired some days. Even the best runners in the state have off days. But any mileage you get in is like money in the bank. You may feel tired doing it, but it will add to your endurance, which will pay off later. In the summer, be smart; get your run over with in the morning if you know you have a busy day.
9. If something is sore, stretch it or ice it; 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off for an hour. Ibuprofen is good too, if your parents don’t mind you taking it. Never make a jump in mileage if something is slightly sore or bothering you.
10.The great thing about running is that if you put in the miles, you WILL get better. And HAVE FUN! Take advantage of being on a team full of hard workers; when a lot of people are working hard together, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.
 10 Reasons to Run Cross Country
1. There are no cuts or tryouts; you can be on the team as long as you are academically eligible.
2. Everyone participates. There is no bench sitting like other sports. Everyone, whether they are varsity or junior varsity, gets plenty of opportunities to compete.
3. Anyone can run. For cross country, you just need to be mentally tough, and have a desire to improve.
4. You will drastically improve. New members of the team usually take off anywhere from 2-5 minutes off their time from their first race of the year to their last race of the year. All you have to do is put in the miles.
5. We usually have two away meets every year. Additionally, the top 7 for the boys and girls will have an away meet in their schedule. For both trips we stay in a hotel the night before the race. Away meets are usually considered the most fun meets of the whole season.
6. Cross Country is an inexpensive sport. Runners will purchase their own uniforms; that way, they can keep it as a memento after they graduate. The cost will be approximately $40. Shoes are the major cost (training shoes and then spikes if you choose to get them). Runners are strongly encouraged to join the booster club which pays for race entries and other assorted team costs. On away trips, we may ask for an additional $10-$20 to off-set costs. We do have various clothing items that we sell, but they are optional. This is significantly cheaper than most other sports.
7. We’ve had several runners in our program go on to earn running scholarships for college. We've had alumni attend Augusta State, Garnder Webb, Kennesaw State, West Georgia, Truett McConnell, Columbus State, Berry, North Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Georgia College, and Butler College. The list continues to grow!
8. Cross Country is fun! A lot of the team members hang out together outside of school and
practice. We have spaghetti dinners sometimes before races, and at the end of the year there is a “wacky day,” where everyone dresses up and runs in the craziest outfit they can find.
9. We’ve been very successful. Our boys have qualified for state every year since 2000, and we've been in the top 4 during four of those years. Our girls' team qualified for the State Meet for the last 4 years, and have finished 4th in the Region for the last 2 years.
10.Coach Harrison and Coach Morgan personally would like to have you on the team. Cross Country is a wonderful sport and we would love for you to have some cross country memories for yourself as well. | 
