South Middle School Cross Country

August 25-29: Week Two and first full week of school

August 25, Monday: Boys & Girls Practice, and XC PAYMENT DUE TODAY for all athletes (Cash or check payable to South Middle School. Payment should be in an envelope with students full name and grade on the front and can be given to the front office, or to Mr. Stordahl in room #147)

August 26, Tuesday: Boys & Girls Practice

August 27, Wednesday: Prospect Invite @ Prospect High School 3:30pm-5:00pm

*No transportation will be provided for the meet. Athletes should arrive at Prospect by 4:00pm

August 28, Thursday: Boys & Girls Practice

August 29, Friday: Boy & Girls Practice

September 1-5: Week Three

September 1, Monday: **Labor Day -- NO SCHOOL/PRACTICE**

September 2, Tuesday: Boys & Girls Practice

September 3, Wednesday: Meet vs Cooper @ Cooper 3:30pm-5:30pm

September 4, Thursday: Boys & Girls Practice

September 5, Friday: Boys & Girls Practice

Physicals: Students need an active physical on file with the Nurses Office BEFORE they are allowed to participate in Cross Country. To be current and active, the Physical must be from 9/2024 or after (physicals are considered current & active for 13 months and must be current for the entire season). Parents can turn in physical forms to the Front Office/Health Office, have students turn them in to the coaches, or email them in. If a student does not have an active physical on file, they will NOT be allowed to participate until they have an active physical on file in the Nurses Office.

Payment: Payment includes the program fee of $35 plus the cost of any additional spirit wear you may have ordered. The program fee covers the cost of the team shirt, which your child gets to keep, and invitational fees for the season. All payment (cash or check made out to South Middle School, and in an envelope with the students full name and grade on the front) is due Monday, August 25th and must be turned in to the front office OR

6th Graders can give payment to Coach Stordahl (Room #147)

7th Graders can give payment to Coach Evans

8th Graders can give payment to Coach Radzak

Last week (August 18–24), our runners trained with a mix of long runs, a 1-mile time trial, recovery runs, tempo workouts, and strides. These sessions helped build endurance, test fitness, and prepare everyone for race day. Weekly mileage ranged from 13–25 miles, adjusted for each athlete’s experience and training level.

On Saturday, the team competed at the St. Viator Invitational and delivered an impressive performance across all divisions. The JV girls placed 2nd, the JV boys took 1st, and both the Varsity girls and boys earned 3rd place finishes. Many of our 7th & 8th graders set personal records, showing the progress, work, and mileage a lot of them put in over the summer. We also had several runners complete their very first cross-country race, gaining valuable experience and confidence for the season ahead. The atmosphere was energetic and supportive, with teammates cheering each other on and families lining the course. It was a solid performance that offered a glimpse of what we might see as the season unfolds!

Here is the plan for the training plan for this week.

The Prospect Invite is on Wednesday and Prospect High School. There will not be a bus to this meet. We meet at Prospect by the tennis courts, and we ask that athletes arrive by 4:00pm. The meet will have the following schedule:

• 4:00 pm: Tour the course 4:30 pm: 6th-grade girls 1-mile race
• 4:42pm: 6th grade boys 1 mile race
• 4:55pm: 7th grade girls 1 mile race
• 5:07pm: 7th grade boys 1 mile race
• 5:20pm: 8th grade girls 1.5 mile race
• 5:40pm: 8th grade boys 1.5 mile race

All athletes MUST run in their grade level race at this meet.

Take a look at our team shop! We have loads of options to choose from and help show your South Cross Country Spirit!

Practices: Practices will be on every weekday we have school and start right after school @ 3:00pm and end between 4:00 - 4:30pm, depending on the daily milage and workout.

Meets: Most of our meets are on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or a Thursday, are against one other team (which we call Dual meets) and will typically start around 3:30pm and go until roughly 5:00-5:30pm. The start time for meets is partially determined by when the traveling school/team can arrive. If the traveling school/tam arrives early, the meet MAY start early. This will be determined by the host school/team.

Invitationals: We've been lucky enough to be invited to quite a few this year. There have not been many invitationals due to Covid-19 the past few years, and we are excited to have these opportunities again for our athletes. Due to Invitationals being larger meets with anywhere from 5-30+ teams in attendance, SOME of the invites have caps on how many athletes are allowed to compete per team/gender. (The meets where team sizes are limited, are marked on our meet schedule). Unfortunately, due to number caps for teams and the vary large size of our team, not everyone will be able to compete at every invitational this year. Although, we do try to give the opportunity to as many athletes as we can. Information on who will be competing in the invitationals will provided during the week of the invitational.

Lastly, because invitationals are such a limited opportunity, we ask that you let us know AS SOON AS POSSIBLE if you are unable to attend so we can offer another athlete the opportunity to compete. Last minute and same day back-outs/no-shows are not fair to athletes who don't get to compete in invites, as coaches are most of the time not allowed to sub-in a different athlete to fill the empty spot.

Please see the revised Meet schedule, as there have been some changes.

***Meet against MacArthur is being rescheduled***

***And sadly, the Prairie Stampede is no more***

We know that there are many Fall sports going on and many of our athletes compete in more than just Cross Country. We know that making it to every meet and practice is not possible for some. All we ask is that athletes attend as often as they are able and to communicate with a coach when unable to attend a meet.

D25 students are allowed to compete on more than one school team at a time. We have been working together with the Girls Basketball Coaches specifically, to try and make our both our schedules work as smoothly as possible for anyone who winds up competing on both teams. All that we ask is that if you plan on competing on both teams (including try-outs) please let a coach (of each sport) know and communicate which days you will missing for each sport. If you have any questions, please let us know. We are more than willing to help work out a schedule that will allow our athletes to be multi-sport athletes.

Practices are extremely important. It is not possible to get better, stronger, and faster if you are not at practice for our workouts. All of our workouts are designed to help prepare our athletes for the physical and mental stresses of competition, and to allow them to preform to the best of their ability. If you don't practice, you won't get better.

Meets are opportunities to improve our PR, and competing against tough competition can really push us to limits we never thought we could reach. The more meets and practices/workouts you miss, the harder it is to improve as an athlete and to preform at your best.

Layers of clothing, running watch, water bottle(s), and GOOD RUNNING SHOES. Fall in Northern Illinois is all over the place (sometimes extremely hot, sometimes extremely cold), so ALWAYS BRING LAYERS and DRESS FOR THE WEATHER. We cannot stress enough how important it is to bring all types of clothes in case we are practicing in hotter/colder/inclement/wet weather. It is extremely important to watch the weather throughout the week, and dress for the weather.

In the beginning of the season, when it is hotter out, make sure you are drinking enough water. You need to drink more water when it's hot and sunny, so be sure to have plenty of water throughout the day at school, not just at practice.

Make sure to wear a nice pair of gym or running shoes. Running shoes from a running store are best. Shoes must be replaced every 300-400 miles for distance runners, so new shoes must be purchased every season for injury prevention. Please make sure you label all items with the athlete’s name.

Cross Country Spikes are OPTIONAL, but we do recommend them as they help prevent slips and falls on cross country courses. XC Spikes can also be purchased at a running shoe store or online.

If an athlete is unable to attend a meet for any reason, it is expected that athletes (or parents) will communicate that with one of the coaches.

Athletes are expected to know the order of events, know which events they are competing in, and show up on time for their events (this can change from meet to meet, and will be posted on Schoology as well as communicated to athletes at practices leading up to meets).

All student athletes are expected to wear their Cross Country Uniform (Uniform Top and Black Shorts/Spandex) at all meets.

We follow all district and IESA safety guidelines in regards to inclement weather (SEE HERE).

All practice and meet cancelations will be posted on schoology by 2:00pm at the LATEST. Until there is a post announcing that we are canceling practice or a meet, assume we are still having practice or meet. We do not cancel for light rain or snow, but may for moderate to heavy rain, extreme heat/cold, unhealthy air quality, and we will certainly will delay and/or cancel due to lightning*.

While we do try to get in meets when possible, as they are difficult to reschedule and most meets/invites do not have rain dates, safety is our top priority. We monitor the radar and forecast continuously throughout the day, as the weather can change radically and rapidly, to make a determination on what the safest course of action is, based on the most up-to-date information and forecast.

*For lightning that appears during meets & practices we abide by the 30 minute delay rule. We shelter and delay for 30 minutes after every strike within 10 miles. We can only start again 30 minutes after the last strike. For every strike, the 30 minute timer restarts.

The Cross Country uniform consists of our Team Shirt (provided at the beginning of the season and athletes get to keep) and solid black shorts (regular or spandex). Athletes should wear training flats or Cross Country Spikes to meets.

When a bus we take busses to meets, all athletes are expected to ride the bus to and from that meet or have a form signed saying who will be bring them to and from meets. There will be a few meets where athletes will need to arrange their own transportation to and from said meets. We will be communicating to athletes and parents during the week if a meet will have bus transportation or not.

Athletes represent our school and our community in all things we say and do. Good sportsmanship is expected on and off the Track. Explicit/disrespectful language and behavior is UNACCEPTABLE. It is not who we are as Cardinals, and can get individuals and/or the team disqualified from races and meets if overheard by an official.

Cardinals are expected to follow the Cardinal Way (Being Mindful, Safe and Ready) inside and OUTSIDE of the classroom. This means on the on the track at meets, talking to officials at meets, at practice, in the locker rooms, on the bus, and out in the community.

When we visit other schools for meets, it is expected that we leave our team camp area cleaner than when we got there.

When leaving campus for distance runs, it is expected that athletes are responsible, safe, and respectful, and mindful of our neighbors and their yards/property.

Athletes must use caution when communicating with others through social media—what they do and say online is also a reflection of themselves and the program.

Cardinals, lead by example and if you see something, say something; to a fellow teammate, a parent, or coach. Don't let your teammates bring you and the team down.

Athletes should remember that they are "Student-Athletes". The "Student" comes first. We follow the IESA, district, and school policy's on athlete academic eligibility.

Proper footwear (ask a coach if you have concerns about your footwear), good nutrition (no soda, energy drinks only after workouts, no junk food, etc.), multivitamins, calcium (milk), and Iron (either from foods or iron tablets), hydration (60oz or more of water per day), rest (at least 8-10 hours a night), and letting adults know about issues help prevent injuries and illness that can prevent us from competing in meets and attending practices. Please consult with your family doctor/pediatrician/orthopedic specialist about any persistent issues.

Website: https://www.sd25.org/domain/574
Location: South Middle School, South Highland Avenue, Arlington Heights, IL, USA
Phone: (847) 398-4250
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AHSD25
Twitter: @AHSD25South