Welcome to the 2010 Pacific Association Youth Cross Country Season

From David Bayliss, PA Youth Cross Country Chairman

Welcome to the 2010 Pacific Association youth cross country season! As the new Youth Cross Country Chairman I am excited for the season to get underway. It is my mission to facilitate a high quality, supportive program that provides fun, age-appropriate opportunities for our young athletes to experience this sport. Of course, I can't do this alone and I look forward to hearing from athletes, coaches and parents about what they like about our cross country program and suggestions for improvements. However, be prepared... I will look to each of you to not only provide feedback, but to step up and volunteer to make our shared goals a reality. I also want to take this opportunity to recognize Bob Shor, our previous Youth Cross Country Chairman, and thank him for all his years of organizing a tremendous program and his continued efforts to assist me as I "learn the ropes" and volunteering his time in so many other ways.

Pacific Association clubs will be hosting several regular season meets, from Oct. 3 through Nov. 14. These meets are designed to provide opportunities for youth athletes to experience the sport and gain experience racing prior to the USATF Junior Olympic Cross Country meets at the end of the season. The Junior Olympic meets start with our own USATF Pacific Association Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships on Nov. 21 at the Willow Hills Cross Country Course in Folsom, CA, where the top 25 individuals and the top 3 teams per age group, qualify to advance to the USATF Region 14 Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships on Nov. 28, again at the Willow Hills course. At the Region 14 meet the top 20 individuals and the top 3 teams per age group qualify to advance to the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships on Dec. 11 in Hoover, Alabama.

For the regular season meets we will have a scoring system for boys and girls in each of the Sub-Bantam, Bantam, Midget and Youth age groups. Club members and unattached athletes are equally eligible to participate in this competition. Points will be awarded based upon the athlete's finishing place in his/her age group. 10 points will be awarded to the first place finisher in each age group, 9 points for second place, 8 points for third place, and so on down to 1 point for tenth place. At the Junior Olympic Association meet, the athletes who have scored the most points in each of the eight age groups will be recognized prior to the course walk and presented with a trophy. Those athletes in each of the eight age groups who have scored the second, third, fourth and fifth most points will also be recognized and receive a letter of achievement.

It is our hope that this extra recognition will spur participation in as many meets as possible. Maximizing participation in each meet helps create better competition as well as generating financial support for the host club.

Not all of our Pacific Association Youth Clubs are involved in cross country. If your club is not involved in cross country give it a try! If you need help, please contact me. Alternatively, if your club is not involved in cross country, your athletes may legally take part in cross country with another club.

Best wishes for the upcoming season--train smart, race hard, and always respect your teammates, coaches, opponents, and officials.

David Bayliss

2010 Youth Cross Country Schedule & Results

PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE MIGHT BE CHANGES OR CORRECTIONS SO KEEP CHECKING BACK.