Minersville Area Track & Field
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Minersville Area High School
1 Battlin Miners dr
BOX 787
Minersville,Pa 17954
(570) 544-4761
info@minerstrack.com
Head Coach Jason Burgess (570) 449-1228
Assistant Jennifer Burgess (570) 449-2531
Assistant Craig Lowthert (717) 675-3841
Assistant Brandon Oakill (570) 527-4621
Bridget Dougherty (570) 294-4379
Map to Minersville High School
How to Watch a Cross-Country Meet1 Battlin Miners dr
BOX 787
Minersville,Pa 17954
(570) 544-4761
info@minerstrack.com
Head Coach Jason Burgess (570) 449-1228
Assistant Jennifer Burgess (570) 449-2531
Assistant Craig Lowthert (717) 675-3841
Assistant Brandon Oakill (570) 527-4621
Bridget Dougherty (570) 294-4379
Map to Minersville High School
Contrary to popular belief, cross-country can be an exciting spectator sport—if you know what to watch for. This guide explains what goes on at a cross-country meet, and will help you get more enjoyment out of watching a meet, no matter what the weather!
1. Cross-Country Scoring
Races are much more exciting when you know which team is winning. The first thing to know about cross-country is that the team with the low score wins the meet.
Basic Scoring
In Cross Country meets, the top seven runners from each team are awarded points based on their overall finishing positions. In other words, the winner of the race is awarded one (1) point; second place is awarded two (2) points; and so on. A team’s score is the total of the points earned by its first five finishers. The team with the lowest score wins.
EXAMPLE: Team A’s top five runners finish 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 11th. Team A’s score = 1+3+6+9+11 = 30.
Team B’s top five runners finish 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, and 8th. Team B’s score = 2+4+5+7+8 = 26.
Even though, Team A took two out of the top three places, Team B wins, 26-30.
Displacement
In the example above, even though Team B’s sixth runner (10th) did not directly contribute to Team B’s score, he or she contributed to the overall victory by bumping up, or “displacing” Team A’s fifth runner, who finished 11th.
However, no matter how many runners a team might have, only seven runners “count” in the scoring so, only the sixth and seventh runners can displace an opposing runner (or runners). Therefore, no scoring runner can be assigned a point value greater than 12.
Interesting Cross-Country Scoring Facts
• A very close meet (with no displacements) will end in a score of 27-28.
• With displacements, a meet can end in a tie, for example 28-28 or 29-29.
• The lowest (best) score possible is 15 points (1+2+3+4+5); The highest (worst) score possible is 50 points (8+9+10+11+12). Thus, the most lopsided victory possible is to win with a score of 15-50.
• In a meet between two teams, if one team takes the top three places, they automatically win, no matter how far back their 4th and 5th runner finish, because their score can’t be worse than 1+2+3+11+12 (29) while the other team’s score can be no better than 4+5+6+7+8 (30).
• In a meet between three teams, the meet is scored as though it were three separate dual meets. For example, when Teams A, B, and C run a meet, the results are scored as AvB, AvC, and BvC.
• In a large meet with many teams, runners can be displaced much farther down in the standings. This means that it is possible, however unlikely, for a team to take the top 3 (or even top 4) places and not win the meet. For example, Team A’s top five runners finish 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 69th (79 points). Team B’s top five runners finish 7th, 11th, 14th, 19th, and 24th (75 points). Although Team A would have crushed Team B in a dual meet, Team B actually beats Team A 75-79 in the big meet.
In big meets, the 4thand 5th runners are very important!!
