Practice Location Change 8/18

Due to muddy trails, practice tomorrow morning (August 18th) will be moved to the Egg Lawn. We will reschedule trail running for another day!

Please check the blog again tomorrow morning in case of any inclement weather... practice cancellation will be communicated here!

Practice cancelled 8/16

Practice this morning, August 16th, is cancelled! During a window between storms, please run on your own... New runners, try to push yourself run at least 2 miles! Returning runners, run 2.5-3 miles. Don’t forget to warm up before and stretch well after your run to prevent injury.

Please check the blog again before practice on Saturday morning for updates regarding our practice location!

Practice at Creasey Mahan 8/11

Practice tomorrow at Creasey Mahan, the location for Rumble in the Jungle! We will meet at 8:00 am in the playground area. The easiest way to get there is to take Highway 42 past North Oldham High School. Turn left on Harmony Landing Road. At the end of Harmony Landing is a four way stop, go through it straight into Creasey Mahan park. The playground/gravel parking lot will be on the left. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Here are the two links to the Sign up Genius Forms:

Tent Set up and Break Down-
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c44adaf29a2f49-2018

Meet assistance-
 https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c44adaf29a2f49-hlsmeet

Hello XC Families!!

Good afternoon!  It’s time to start racing and show off all the hard work that your students will be putting in this summer during practices.  Following are important communication regarding logistics and XC dates.  Please read the entire email- it is long, but has a lot of important information!

Who’s Behind the communication-
Hello!  My name is Shawna White.  My daughters, Caroline and Hannah, are 6^th graders at the CH campus and have been running with HLS since they were in 3^rd grade. 

Katie Nau, has four boys, Clayton (7^th), Levi (5^th), Judah and Bennett (2^nd).  Katie’s boys all attend the CH campus and have been running since Clayton was in the 2^nd grade.

Last year, Katie and I volunteered to be the parent coordinators. We loved it so much, we are back for a second season.  J This year we will be responsible for registering our team for races and more team communication.

Race Registration-

The team pays for races based on the number of participants at each meet.  With that being said, I will be sending out a RACE REGISTRATION e-mail prior to every XC meet.  That e-mail it will simply remind you of the upcoming race and ask that you reply to me (not the whole team) via e-mail if your child will NOT be participating that day.  Please be diligent about this and respond promptly.  The sooner we can get the team registered, the better gate position (starting line) we have with each race.  This can be a huge advantage or disadvantage with some races!  The sooner I know of those not participating, the team saves money on entry fees AND Coach Wigginton is notified, so that we are not panicking race day trying to figure out why your runner is not on the start line.
 
^1st, 2^nd, and 3^rd Races- Registration Feedback-
A separate e-mail will be sent out soon regarding the first three XC meets for HLS.  Included will be race times and details.  Please review the information and let me know if your runner will NOT be attending any one of these meets.

 The Who, When, Where of HLS XC-

Whenever we are given race logistics (times, locations, course maps, directions) that information will be shared via hlsxc.blogspot.com.  This is your best source of updated practice/race/result information.  IF race times are available at the time of sending out a “race registration” email, then the information will be included there as well.  If weather interferes with practice or race plans, then updates will be posted. It is very important that you get familiar with the team blog.  There is great information that will be posted throughout the season - from running tips to race day details, and of course the ever-important link to race results.

IF race times are available at the time of a “race registration” email, then the information will be included there as well.

At each meet there are two types of races for runners to participate in: the “Team Race” and the “Open Race”.  The Team Race usually hosts the team's faster runners for their age, and scores points based on their finishing position in the race.  The scores are tallied against other schools and team trophies are awarded to the fastest schools (usually) at the end of the meet. 

 Each meet is different in terms of how many runners are allowed to participate in the “Team Race”.  It is structured so that there is a level field of runners from each school versus being overwhelmed by schools that are heavy on a particular age group. All additional runners will be entered in the “Open Race”.

Your runners’ race selection will be sent via e-mail, so that the team's focus is not which runners are better. Instead, HLS is one team for all.  Both the Team Race and the Open Race are always the same distance and have competitive runners in both.  Let’s celebrate each individual’s accomplishments and personal improvements together!

Please note, Coach Wigginton makes all decisions concerning the runners who are entered in each race.

Uniform Distribution- TBA

Each of your runners will receive a singlet and shorts to BORROW during the season.  The uniforms are very thin and lightweight…on purpose…to provide the best comfort during the races.  Please be conscious in washing the garments in COLD water with NO bleach, then hanging them to dry.  Do NOT place them in the dryer.  Proper care will maintain the best fit for your runner and look for our team.  Once we have information on uniform distribution, we will let you know.  Uniforms will not be available at the first meet.

Parent tip:  Do not over dress your runner during the season.  As the season progresses, the weather will get chillier.  Standing sideline, you may have a coat, hat and gloves on.  It only seems natural to dress your runner the same way.  This will definitely hinder their performance and comfort.  Perfectly fine to bundle up before or after the race, but once the warm up starts, the runner should start to shed the layers.

Team Pictures- TBA

A team picture for the school yearbook will be taken at the beginning of the season, TBA.

End- of- the year Banquet-

Will be held on Sunday November 4 at Cooke Hall from 5:30-8 PM.

 Sign up Genius-

New this year. You will receive a separate email with sign up genius invitations for two different opportunities to help our HLS team.

The first Sign Up Genius invitation will be for Tent Set Up and Tent Break Down for every meet.  Please sign up for a race date and time that works best for your family. Typically, Middle school Girls will run first at the Saturday meets, and the younger runners are at the end of the day.  The exception to this are eh weekday races.  Both Hite (only K-5) and FCA have younger runners starting first and ending with the older runners.   

The second Sign Up Genius will be for help on Race Days.  Coach Wigginton needs our help to ensure our runners are ready to go at start time: so we are enlisting your help.  Each meet will have several sign ups available (i.e. middle school girls, boys, 4-5 grade girls, boys, etc.)  We are asking for a parent to sign up for each race. You will need to arrive 1 hour and 15 minutes before that race, and you are responsible for checking in those runners, distributing their bibs, walking the course with them and having them at the starting line 15 minutes prior to the race- Coach Wigginton will be at the starting line.  You will then have a front row spot to watch the race, before make sure all the runners in that race are reunited with their families or make it make to the HLS tent.

Thank you for reading this very long email!  Please let us know if you have any questions.

We are looking forward to another exciting XC season with such dedicated and supportive HLS families! 

Shawna White 502-599-5420

Katie Nau 502-417-2571