Dear Coaches,

Only a two days until the WV State Championship. After the GEICO Classic, our crew immediately starting working on the course after the 5" inches of rain & beating it took by the 8 races we had that day. We planted 2,000 lbs of grass seed, rolled the course numerous times, dug new drainage to help divert the water, put in piping for drainage, put 20 tons of crushed gravel on the steep part of the hill, & made a new opening at the beginning of the hill. We have worked on the course everyday, except 4 since GEICO to prepare the course for the state championship.

On Wednesday, we cut, striped, flagged, & etc to the entire course. It's ready to go. For you coaches you venture on top to watch the runners, we have put in a section of steps behind the press box to help make your journey easier. One of our runners did it as an Eagle Scout project.

On Friday, the course will be open at 1:30pm & packets will be ready for you to pick-up in the small gym. We will have music playing, healthy snacks for athletes, a picture display of last year's top 10 in all classes & we're working on showing last year's state meet during the mixer. Avoid arriving at the school between 2:45 - 3:30pm because of school traffic.

The motel situation really loaded my plate, but I went today & paid all, but one motel, which I will do on Thursday. I made arrangements with several schools to mail their reimbursement checks to the school, but everybody else is good to go. Next year, we'll be doing it the Mineral Wells way, but because of the Marshall football game, I didn't want to take a chance & have a traveling team without rooms.

As far as the weather, plan on rain & windy conditions.. The weather was awesome today, but the weatherman is shoving rain our way on Thursday, Friday, & possibly Saturday. Your runners will face the elements again like GEICO. However, we have two dump trucks of mulch, 2500 lbs of dry turface, & a dump truck of sand to help out the really really muddy spots.

We will be setting up the big gymnasium on Friday around 5:15pm for the awards ceremony. We have a lighting & sound system, video screen, awards stand, & etc. that will take about 3 hours to set up. I highly encourage everybody to stay for the awards ceremony whether your team receives an award or not. I think it serve as a good motivator for your runners to train harder next year to be able to get on the awards stand.

Tent City will be at the same location, but your team is welcomed to warm-up in the small gymnasium, concourse area outside the gym, or the red barn located near the track. Bathrooms are in 3 locations > Tent City, Concourse area, & stadium.

Inform your parents & fans that admission is $8.00 for Adults & $7.00 for students. Those prices are set by the WVSSAC & we have no control over it. You will pay as you drive down the entrance, so inform your drivers to get their money ready. The following get in free for the state meet:

1. Coaches

2. State Qualifiers - if your team qualified, we will pay for all team members courtesy of Cabell Midland (example - your boys qualified the boys members get in free, but not the girls) Individual qualifier team members must pay.

There is plenty of parking, so it won't be a problem. Buses need to drive around the school & drop off athletes at Tent City & park down the roadway next to the gym. You can drop off any athletes at Tent City, which will make for a 20 meter walk & then go park.

We are looking forward to your visit to Cabell Midland High School and will do everything possible to make this a memorable experience for your team.

If there is anything I can do, let me know ...

Coach Parsons

(Cabell Midland Cross Country)