Practice Sites

Here are some practice sites if your looking for somewhere to practice during the postseason:

Bensalem HS

I will be holding practice at Bensalem High School by the field hockey fields on Mondays (except Monday 11/2), Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:15 to 6:45 PM. There are lights in the parking lots so we can continue to run even when it gets darker.

Enter off Hulmeville Road and turn left into the parking lot on the side of the school. We are located about halfway down the parking lot.

All are welcome.

COACH - Mary Ellen Malloy

CB EAST HS

OLG/OLMC/St Judes/St Martins...we have practice at CB EAST high school on Tuesdays, Thursdays from 4-5pm after daylight savings.....9-10am on Saturdays....
COACH - Sam Losorelli OLG/OLMC

SWARTHMORE COLLEGE

We at St John Chrysostom will be having practice on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 5:30 to 6:45 at Swarthmore College. We meet at the Swarthmore Presbyterian Church on Harvey Road, in the back parking lot at the small playground.
Here are the mapquest directions to our practice site, please call me if you have questions at 610-585-2914.
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?name=Swarthmore+Presbyterian+Church&city=Swarthmore&state=PA&address=727+Harvard+Ave&zipcode=19081&country=US&latitude=39.898437&longitude=-75.353657&geocode=ADDRESS&id=2289831

LANSDALE CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL - track
November 7^th , 21^st, and 28^th at 9am
COACH - Mike Shive

MMR
MMR will have post-season practices, thru at least the Regional race on 11/14, on Tuesday and Thurs evenings at 6pm and Sat mornings at 9am at a location between Amber and CB South High School. The general location will be Windlestrae Park on Kenas Road which is just east of Rt 309 between Horsham Rd and County Line Rd. We may shift to other locations for individual practices and so parents should contact me by email for details and I'll put them on an email distribution list for updates.

No practice on Thurs, 10/29 due to team party.

Coach - Charlie Stone charles_stone@verizon.net and charles_stone@gmacm.com (please send emails to both)

ROSE TREE PARK - DELCO
4:00 to 5:00 as daylight savings hits on Sunday and it will be dark before 5:30. I still plan on having practices on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but I am flexible. If the majority of the runners can only make other days instead, we can adjust the scheduled practice days. See you all Delaware County runners on Wednesday.

Coach - Paul Sterns

Archdiocesan Champs Results

First, our thanks to everyone who lent a hand to another outstanding CYO cross country season. I know that Mary Ellen and Kristen Malloy especially deserve many, many thanks as they were dealing with more runners registered to run (over 1650 runners!) than ever before.

Special thanks for everyone who went the extra mile this past weekend, bringing sand and straw to help clean up the mess that was left after the cancer walk and races over the past two weeks, our 2 new bike riders who tried to do maybe the only thing harder than running on that field, and especially our amazing athletes deserve lots of credit for competing in incredibly adverse conditions (and for avoiding that crazy flu that seemed to strike everyone's team.)

A reminder that the post season meeting is this Wednesday at St Anastasia at 7PM.

Here are the team scores

Here are the times, places, and scores by age group (novice - cadet)

Here are the subnovice times and places.

here are cumulative results for the year
contrast photography link

Champs tomorrow.

All,

The Plateau is really beat up. We have no choice but to run the meet tomorrow. The worst damage is to the main field -- start and finish line areas. The city was supposed to do work to clean it up, but it didn't do enough.

In order to prevent injuries tomorrow, I am asking for your help. If anyone has access to a straw bale or some sand, could you please bring that to the meet tomorrow. We can put the straw down to soak up the excess water on the fields and the sand down to minimize slipping. Anything that you can do would be greatly appreciated.

See you tomorrow.

Mary Ellen

Champs info & more

Lots of information here. This is the email from Mary Ellen to the coaches.

Here is the post season entry form

Here is the travel info

Coaches,

Sunday is champs. Much information to pass along.

Remind your subnovices that they will race AFTER the cadet boys race this weekend. The last two weeks the cadets have started at about 3:20 for a point of reference. Make sure all your athletes have four (4) pins on their number and they are wearing the CORRECT number. Remind ALL parents that they are to stay behind the red ropes at the finish line. I will have no problem DQing a kid whose parents get in the way. Remind parents that pacing results in a disqualification of the runner. Keep your parents under control!! Hats off to the parents who follow directions.

The only runners who are eligible are those who have completed two races this season. Numbers will be checked at the starting line. The only exception to this rule is the subnovice race Any subnovice who is on a roster is permitted to compete.

Please make certain that all officials (chute people and marshals) are on time for their assignments. It is not fair to the people that you are relieving to make them stay longer than necessary.

Remind your runners that interference (putting out your arms to keep a running from passing, pushing a runner to the outside) can be grounds for a disqualification. Same goes for cutting the course.

Any team that will enter into the team scoring (3 in an age group or 3 in each age group) will have to turn in an index card with your team name, group score and the cards of the top three scorers for your team. I will have extra cards in the event that you forget. The top fifteen (15) finishers in the novice, minor and cadet races will need to turn in your cards to the scorer for the awards. The subnovice will receive all awards in the chute.

Awards will be given out after all the races are completed. Team awards will be handed out at that time also.

Long sleeved t-shirts will be on sale for $13. "Philadelphia CYO" red travel shirts will be available for $8. "Philadelphia CYO Cross Country" magnets will be available for $5. There will also be a limited number of sack packs available for $10. Exact change is always appreciated. Checks are also accepted and can be made out to "Philadelphia CYO Cross Country."

All sweat orders will be available on Sunday. Pease, please, please stop by the finish line and pick up the sweats.

Post season competition:

All runners who are rostered are eligible for the post season. There is no minimum meet requirement. Any high school runner who ran for the CYO is also eligible to participate for us (as long as their high school coach is okay with the idea.) The team uniform is the red "Philadelphia CYO Cross Country" shirt which will be on sale on Sunday and any black shorts or tights. If supplies of the shirts run out on Sunday, I will order more before the regional meet.

There will be a meeting on Wednesday, October 28 for the post season. It will be at St. Anastasia at 7 PM. Any parish who is interested in doing the post season must be represented. If your parish is not there, I will assume that no one is doing the post season. Pass this information on to your parents. Any parent who contacts me after the meeting and claims that they no nothing about the post season will be directed back to their coaches. You will have to deal with them this year because I will not.

At the meeting, we will select our teams. First requirement to be on a team is that the athlete agrees to go to nationals. Any athlete who wants to run in the qualifying meet but not nationals will run as an individual for CYO. The top four finishers from the champs will get first chance to be on the A team. After that, we will go to the list of best times (to be distributed after the champs.) We will go down the list and place runners on teams until all are placed on a team. If we have more than three teams, we have permission to send the extra teams to nationals this year. I think this may be a one time offer so you may want to take advantage of the opportunity. We will try to field as many teams as possible in all the age groups including the subnovice. Please be aware that those runners born in the year 2000 are to compete in the bantom division (3000 meters). The post season competitions are based on year of birth, not grade in school. Some third graders will have to move up and compete with the novices. Last year, we fielded a team of just subnovices competing in the bantom (novice) division.

After teams are selected, paperwork will be turned in. All the entries are being done on line. I have attached a homemade entry form. I will handle all the on line entries since I am the team administrator.

For the regional meet, you will need to turn in:

a completed post season entry form

a copy of the birth certificate

a copy of the AAU card

$20 entry fee (cash or check payable to "Philadelphia CYO Cross Country"

AAU cards can be purchased at www.aausports.org. Go to membership and then to individual membership. Follow the directions. The AAU number is about 15 characters long. The team name is "Philadelphia CYO." The club number is MAATCY7KA0.

We will also collect paperwork and money for the national meet since everyone who participates in the regional can go to nationals this year.

For the national meet, you will need to turn in:

travel sheet (attached)

wavier form (copies will be handed out at the coaches meeting on Sunday)

YES Athletics card (paperwork will be handed out at the coaches meeting on Sunday)

entry fee ($20 for entry and $10 for YES card)

hotel money ($115 per room per night)

This will make life easier for the age group coaches at the regional meet.

I know that this is a ton of information. Pass it on to the parents and let them decide about the post season. I will get practice sites listed on the website this week.

Any questions, call or email me.

Pray that it does not rain too much on Saturday.

Mary Ellen

Area E meet update

The Area E championship will run rain or shine. The only reason the meet would be canceled is if the field is completely swamped.

UPDATE - The field is already completely underwater, and as their is no end in sight, the meet has been canceled for tomorrow and tentatively rescheduled for November 8th.

If Delaware County and Mt Carmel would like to post their meet cancellation (if necessary) here, please just leave a comment or send me an email.

post season meeting

Mark your calendars.

The meeting to turn in paperwork, money and select teams for the post season will be on Wednesday, October 28 at 7 PM at St. Anastasia in Newtown Square. Any team that is participating in the post season must be represented by either coach or a parent.

Remember, any high school students who wish to participate are more than welcome to represent Philadelphia CYO as long as they came through our track or cross country programs.

Mary Ellen

week 4 results

here are the results from week 4

Post Season

Here is the information on the post season that Mary Ellen sent out last night.

To all,

There is only one more meet left before the champs so it is time to get this mess straightened out.

As I mentioned last week, the AAU has changed its qualifying procedures. Anyone who participates in a regional meet is now eligible to go to nationals. We are going to the Cross Country Coaches Youth Nationals in Nashville, Tenn. I am told that they are now going to do the same procedure that the AAU has adopted for this year. Therefore, anyone who will commit to going to nationals and competes in the qualifying round will be permitted to enter the national meet. Some may feel that this "waters down" the process, but, in reality, this has been what has happened the last couple of years. Almost all of our kids who wanted to go to nationals last year, ended up going. So it really will not be a big change for us.

The qualifying round will be Saturday, November 14 at Penlyn Park in Penlynn, PA. It is in the vicinity of Ambler. The cost of the entry fee is $20 and the cost of the AAU card is $12 for athletes. The entry fee for nationals will be $20 and the cost of a YES card (their version of an insurance card) is $10. The cost of the hotel rooms will be approximately $110 per night. That has not been verified just yet. All of our athletes have to stay in the team hotel...non-negotiable. They will represent "Philadelphia CYO" cross country team. The team uniform will be the red t-shirts that we have worn forever (and will be on sale at the championship meet) and black shorts or tights.

The day of nationals is Saturday, December 5 in Nashville, Tennessee.

We will have our annual meeting to place athletes on teams the week after our champs. Time, date and location will follow next week. The rules that we follow are simple. The first four finishers from the championship meet will have the first choice of being on the A team. After that, we will go to the list of best times. We will go down the list and place children on teams depending on whether or not they commit to going to nationals. Obviously, we only want to take full teams to nationals so if an athlete will not commit to going to nationals, we ask them to run as an individual for the Philadelphia CYO at the regional meet. Since we already know that anyone who competes will go to nationals, at this meeting we will collect entry forms (to be emailed the beginning of the week), copies of AAU cards, copies of birth certificates, entry fees for nationals, the money needed to purchase the YES cards and all the hotel fees. I have not looked into reserving a bus because there has not been sufficient interest in recent years but if enough people are interested, I will gladly get that information. Having the opportunity to collect all this paperwork at a meeting the week after our champs will make life so much easier for the age group coaches on the day of the meet.

Here is what you need to find out from your athletes:

-who is going to compete in the regional meet?

-who is going to commit to going to nationals?

-those who are going to nationals need to think about which nights they will be staying in Tenn.

Traditionally, Thursday has been a travel day. Friday, the kids can sleep later and we will review the course in the afternoon with all the other members of their age group and their age group coach. It is a good time for them to socialize and meet the kids they have been competing against all season long. There will be an age group coaches meeting Friday night and a parent/athlete meeting after that. Saturday is the day of the races. We go to Mass Saturday night as a group. Saturday night has been a time to relax, meet new friends and celebrate the end of a successful season. The parents usually get together and socialize. Sunday is a travel day to return home.

I am also trying to get several places where the kids can get together to practice. In the past, some of the coaches continue with team practices all the way to nationals. Other coaches stop after our champs and any of their kids who want to continue competing are on their own. This has been difficult for them. I would like to get at least two locations in each county where kids from any parish can come together and train until the national meet. I have always welcomed others to my location at Bensalem High School and will continue to do so. If there are any other coaches willing to open their doors to other runners, please let me know. This information will then be posted on our websites so that everyone will have access to the locations, days and times of the practices.

I know that this is a lot of information to digest. Please pass this information on to all your parents and let them make the decisions. With several group locations, I am hoping that we can welcome some new traveling companions into our fold. Please let me know if you have any questions. I will send more information (entries, hotel, meeting date, etc...) at the beginning of the week

See you all tomorrow.

Mary Ellen Malloy

Mt Carmel Invitational Flyer

On the Sunday the 18th, there will be no Archdiocesan Meet because of the cancer walk. Guadalupe, Mt. Carmel and other parishes will be hosting a invitational meet. Here is a flyer.

Area E will be holding their annual Cross Country championship that Sunday as well. I will upload the sign up form as soon I get one. updated: SIGN UP FORM

week 3 results

here are the preliminary week 3 results. There was a disqualification in the minor girls race for pacing. A reminder to all parents, coaches, and teammates that pacing is illegal at all levels of cross country and track & field. Pacing is defined as running along side a competitor to set a pace (obviously), offer encouragement, and unfortunately, sometimes to discourage a runner.

On a happier note, we had great contributions from our marshals and chute workers this week. Thank you very much for helping to make the meet run smoothly!

business note: The file hosting site I have been using for the past 3 years, HDD Web, is going out of business. It was a rather unique file hosting site in my experience; it provided a direct download feature from the website or blog. Some of the older files may disappear in the coming week. If you need to download something, send me a note and I will switch it over. Also, if you know of another easy to use (and cheap) file hosting site that offers a direct download, let me know. For now I am using File Savr, but unfortunately, you need to put in a verification code for each download. (thankfully they are easier to read than when you are buying phillies tickets online!)

Lost & Found

Coaches,

A jean jacket was left on the plateau at the last meet. It was close to the finish line. If anyone picked it up, thank you and please return it to Paul Stearns at the St. Anastasia tent this weekend.