Cross Country Coaches' Committee Information

On November 16, 2005, the Cross Country Coaches' Committee met at the WVSSAC office in Parkersburg. Five motions were made and and passed at the committe meeting. These five items then had to pass WVSSAC Board of Director approval. Each items was approved by the WVSSAC Board of Directors.

First, for those that do not know, the Cross Country Coaches' Committee consists of the following members:
Craig Kellar - Doddridge (rotates off committee following this meeting)
Tim Belotte - Hedgesville
Steve Brown - Capital
Bryan Canterbury - Ravenswood
Terry Spangler - Ritchie
Dan Erenrich - Morgantown (Athletic Director Representative)
Neal Ferguson - Huntington (New Member)
Dan Withrow - Greenbrier East (New Member)
John Rowland - Berkeley Springs (New Member)

Now for the items that were approved.

Item 1 - Number of Plaques

The number of plaques to be awarded was increased from 8 team members to 10 team members.
What this Means
Simply put, this means that there will be two more plaques that go to each team that reaches the awards stand. Before only the 7 runners and an alternate, or the 7 runners and one coach would receive a plaque.

Item 2 - Regional Sites for 2006-2007

The following Sites were named: 
Region     Class A-AA          Class AAA
  I        Cameron             Apple Valley (Fairmont Senior)
  II       Doddridge           Hedgesville
  III      PikeView            Camp Virgil Tate
  IV       Ravenswood          Camp Virgil Tate
What this Means
Cabell Midland was originally awarded the Class AAA Region IV meet. When Cabell Midland was awarded the State Meet, this regional was moved to Camp Virgil Tate. Beyond that, it means that hardly any of the Regional Meets will be where they were last year. Most notable is the move of the Region II Class A-AA meet from Keyser to Doddridge. This is only more notable than other moves because of the distance of the change. The Eastern Panhandle teams in this region will have quite a trip.

Item 3 - JVs at Regional Meets

There will be no JV races at Regional Meets.
What this Means
Most regions didn't have this anyway, but it means that there is no more "last chance" for JV runners at the Regional Meet.

Item 4 - Entry Forms

All entry forms are to be sent to the regional director only. The eligibility certificate has been eliminated.
What this Means
Beats me. I assume it means slightly less work for somebody somewhere along the way.

Item 5 - Regional Qualification

In order to qualify and compete in the regional and state meets, a team must start the meet with at leave five runners. Regions with the appropriate number of teams who begin the regional race will qualify the indicated number of teams.
What this Means
This one is somewhat big. Before, if you were in a region that had 7 complete teams start the race, it would mean that three teams would qualify. However, if one of those 7 teams failed to have 5 runners finish the race, the third bid was lost. Now, if a team starts the race, they count. They don't necessarily have to finish the race in order to count as a complete team for the purposes of determining how many teams will advance to the State Meet.