2009 Cross Country Season Officially Starts August 10th

1. Our first practice is Monday at 8:00 a.m. The boys team will be meeting in Mr. Matthew's classroom at 8:00 (do not be late). All returning runners need to bring their "Runners Manual" from last year, a pencil, and a lock for a locker in the locker room. Incoming freshman will receive their runners manual on Monday but should still bring a pencil and lock. We will be meeting in the classroom for approximately 1 hour and then holding practice for an additional two hours. Athletes should expect to be at practice 3 hours the first day (should be finished at approximately 11:00).

2. We are having our parent meeting, time trials and pictures on Saturday, August 15th. There will be a few changes to time trials. The time trial will only be a two mile race this year. Also, any parents or alumni that are interested in competing against the boys or girls team are more than welcome to do so. This time trial will be followed by our annual parent meeting and team pictures will begin at 10:30. Athletes can go home and shower before pictures if they want.

3. All spirit wear orders need to be submitted online by Monday, August 17th. It would be a good idea to print out exactly what you ordered just in case there is any confusion or mistakes with what they ship to the school. All spirit wear is optional except for the warm-up. We do ask that athletes purchase a warm-up outfit to match their teammates. Two different warm-ups are offered. The Nike warm-up is water-proof while the other warm-up is the same outfit we have ordered in years past and is made of polyester. If athletes want to use a warm-up from previous years, they do not need to order another warm-up. Click on the following link "www.kesslersteamsports.com" to enter the website to order spirit wear. Once in the site, click on "My Team Shop" and enter the following password "eagles3SY".

3. We will be having a team shoe night at Second Sole again this year. This will be taking place on August 12th (next Wednesday) at 6:30. If athletes are in need of shoes or gear, they will receive a discount this night. All runners should have a pair of training shoes and a pair of spikes and second sole does offer good deals on a combination of both.

4. The weather this year has been unpredictable and while it hasn't been as hot as the last couple years it is still very important for all athletes to be staying properly hydrated. This does not mean just drinking water during practice, but throughout the day as well. Ideally athletes would have time to wake up and drink 12-16 ounces of water 2 hours before they run, however I know that most of us are rolling out of bed at the last possible second so please make an effort throughout the day to continue to take care of yourself.

5. A new tradition that we are hoping to start this season is a high school canoe trip. The day we have planned is Thursday, August 13th. We would have our normal 8-10 practice in the morning then athletes can run home and clean up and meet at the high school at 11:00 a.m. We are going to be canoeing on the Big Darby Creek and expect to return to New Albany around 4:00 pm. Permission slips and release forms went home today with the athletes. We would like to get as accurate of a head count as possible so please return both forms ASAP. This is not a mandatory trip.

6. If you are not already receiving team emails, please contact Coach Olinger at colinger@new-albany.k12.oh.us in order to be added to the team distribution list.