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Cut-off times, course distance for cross country race
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Posted on Oct 28 2020
In this 2019 file photo, elementary school students race to the finish line during the All Schools Cross Country Championships Series at the Saipan Country Club. (Kimberly a. Bautista)
To adhere to social distancing rules, organizers of the 2020-2021 Public School System/Northern Marianas Athletics All Schools Cross Country Series will be implementing cut-off times for next month’s races.
For the elementary division, students in the first to fifth grades must complete the 1.1-mile course at the CPA Airport Field in 25 minutes. In the middle school races, the distance is 2.1 miles and sixth to eighth graders must finish the run in 30 minutes. For the high school race, which will feature a 3.1-mile course, the cut-off time is 35 minutes. Student-runners who will not meet the cut-off times will be asked to leave the field and will be marked DNF (did not finish) on the result sheets.
Organizers would also like to clarify that for elementary division teams, there must be at least two girls and two boys on the six-student squad. Each school is allowed to field only one co-ed team in the three qualifying races and in the finale and only the Top 4 finishers’ results will be counted in determining the overall winners in the championship round. The elementary division qualifiers will be held Nov. 6, 13, and 20.
The Nov. 7, 14, and 21 races are for middle school and high school teams and there will be separate competitions for boys and girls, but still each school is allowed to field only one squad.
For schools with more than six runners per team, they can choose the first six students to field in the opening leg of the race and have the remaining runners compete in the succeeding events. However, in the championship race, each school can only have six runners per team and each runner must have participated in at least one qualifier.
Deadline for registration for the November races is on Nov. 2, while the championship will be held on Dec. 4 for elementary division and Dec. 5 for high school and middle school categories. Schools will be clustered to avoid crowding and follow the safety measures against the COVID-19 pandemic.
