October 5, 2002 · Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast, ME

Co-Hosted by Belfast Area High School and Brewer High School

We are pleased to invite you and your team to a new invitational cross country meet in the State of Maine this fall. For Eastern Maine teams, this meet will give you the opportunity to run on the same course that is used for the regional championship meet. For Western Maine teams, you will have the opportunity to run against the top teams from the east that you will be facing 4 weeks later at the state meet. For teams outside of Maine, you will have the opportunity to run in a competitive meet while visiting the beautiful mid-coastal part of our state. For all, the challenging course and unique format of the meet should be an excellent primer for conference, regional, and state meets.

We realize that many of you may not be able to attend this year because of meets that are already scheduled. Our intent is to schedule this meet every year on the Saturday that is 3 weeks before the regional championship meet date. We hope that leagues and teams will consider putting the meet on their schedule for future years. For 2002, most of the teams from the Penobscot Valley Conference, and several teams from the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference are expected to participate. One team from Rhode Island is also expected.  We are in the process of obtaining National Federation of State High School Associations sanctioning for teams outside of Maine.

The course is located at the Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast. Course features include: starting line on the football field with a long straightaway for a fair and safe start, a long gradual uphill just after the first mile, wide grass paths through a rolling meadow, several short and steep hills in the wooded part of the course, and a slight downhill for a fast finish. This is one of the most fan friendly cross country courses you will ever see. Just by standing at the start/finish area you will see the runners at least 5 times. The race distance for both boys and girls is 5,000 meters. This is the same course that is used for the Eastern Maine Regional Championship Meet.

We expect to have 2 boys races and 2 girls races. Individual runners will be seeded into races based on their 5K times, so that all runners will run in races with comparably skilled runners. Then, all of the races will be scored (boys and girls separately) based on times, as if they were in one huge race, to arrive at team scores. Top 5 runners count for the team score, and 6^th and 7^th runners count for displacement. After we receive the entries, we will break the runners up into seeded races of 150-200 runners.

Coaches should provide a 5K time for each runner. We will be counting on coaches to provide accurate seed times. Runners should run in the race for which they are seeded, or a race seeded for faster runners. Runners may run in a faster seeded race if they choose to do so. Runners may not run in a slower seeded race than the one for which they are seeded. If a coach wants a whole team to run together, or a group to run together, they would run in the race for which the fastest of the group was seeded. We encourage coaches, however, to have their runners run in the race for which they are seeded. Artificial 5K times, such as listing all of a team’s runners at the same time so that they may run in the same race, makes if very difficult to seed the races. It is our hope that coaches will not use this device. We do not need to know if a runner is running in a faster seeded race. The computer program is able to recognize each runner by the bib number that they will wear.

Please note that there are not any races labeled "JV". If you have 20 girls on your team, they are all considered varsity and have the potential of contributing to your team score. If runners run in the race for which they are seeded, then the runners from most teams will run in different races. For team scoring, the computer will identify all team members in the different races, and, based on time, score the fastest 7 runners from a school as a team.

We hope that this unique format will allow coaches to run athletes together that are competing for the last spots on their varsity roster as the championship meets approach. The format should also give comparably skilled runners the opportunity to run against each other regardless of what position they are on their team, and give a wider range of runners a chance to win awards.

11:45 AM - Opening Ceremony and Singing of National Anthem

Noon - 2^nd Seed Boys Race

12:35 PM - 2^nd Seed Girls Race

1:10 PM - 1^st Seed Boys Race

1:45 PM - 1^st Seed Girls Race

2:30 PM - Awards Ceremony

Note: Teams should report to the start area 15 minutes before the above times for check in and team introductions.

You may walk the course at any time on the day of the event. If you are walking on the course after the races have started, please be sure to be attentive to the needs of the competitors and give way as the race comes by you. Course maps will be in your team packet.

Team awards will be presented to the champion and runner-up teams for both boys and girls. Individual awards will be presented to the top 10 runners in each of the seeded races.

The registration fee for the meet is $3 per runner for the first 15 runners.  Additional runners are $1 each.  For example, a team with 25 runners would pay (15 x $3) + (10 x $1) = $55.  Hopefully this will make the meet more affordable for smaller schools. Make checks payable to Brewer High School. Completed entry forms and checks must be sent postmarked by September 28, 2002. Mail To: Glendon Rand, Brewer High School, 79 Parkway South, Brewer, ME 04412. If you have any last minute changes you may e-mail them to Glendon Rand at runsub5@gwi.net.

Features that will make this meet special include: fast and accurate computer results, introduction of teams before each race, mile splits, concessions, and indoor awards in case of inclement weather.

Meet Contacts

If you have any questions about the meet, please contact:

Glendon Rand

Brewer High School Cross Country Coach

(h)207-825-3396, (w)207-989-4140

e-mail: runsub5@gwi.net

JoAnn Nealey

Belfast Area High School Cross Country Coach

(h)207-338-1232 or 207-338-5201, (w)338-4420

e-mail: nealeyd@yahoo.com

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