Paloma Park Cross Country Meet

Meet Information

 

Welcome to the 2024 Cross Country Season. Great Heart Academies and USATF will combine efforts to bring cross-country races to the Arizona community. The Great Heart Middle School Cross Country League has been a leader in providing exceptional race experiences to their 5^th- 8^th grade student-athletes for over a decade. This year they will be teaming up with USATF-AZ to offer a new and unique experience for the community. In the past, USATF-AZ has divided up races by age categories; 8U, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, and 15-up for individual races. While these age categories will still be used for State, Regional, and National USATF meets, we will be changing up the race divisions for the regular season races with Great Hearts.

This season, we will have three (3) main races at every regular season meet.

Girls 5^th – 8^th grade (11-14 year old)

Boys 5^th – 8^th grade (11-14 year old)

Combined Girls & Boys 4^th Grade and Below (6-10 year old)

At three of the meets – Sept 7^th, Oct 5^th, and Oct 19^th, we will include one additional race for 9^th grade through Masters (5k).

By combining age groups, it gives our runners the true cross-country racing experience with opportunities to race against larger fields and a better chance to race as a team with their club. Great Hearts 5^th - 8^th grade races have typically run 100-150 athletes per gender over the past decade. USATF age category races have rarely broken 20 athletes in a race over the past decade. 

All 8th-grade and below races will be run on the same course at the meets. The length of the course will vary in length based on the park availability with distances between 1.8 - 2.1 miles.

The order of races will be as follows.

Girls 5^th – 8^th Grade

Boys 5^th – 8^th Grade

Combined 4^th Grade & Below

*Combined 9^th Grade to Masters (5k)

*Sept 7^th, Oct 5^th, Oct 19^th

Entry Fees –

USATF Clubs of 20+ athletes will be $100 per meet.

USATF Clubs and Unattached Individuals* is $5 per entry.

Great Hearts MS Teams fees are already paid through school ADs.

*Great Hearts families will also be allowed to enter additional family members in the 4^th grade and below, and 9^th grade to Masters races as unattached athletes if not affiliated with a club team.

If you have any questions, please reach out to me, Brad Curtis

npxtrack@outlook.com or coachcurtis@outlook.com

Course Map 

1.95 Mile Course (8th Grade & Below) - https://onthegomap.com/s/jl84l1d0

5k Course (9th Grade - Masters) - https://onthegomap.com/s/pm07a6gm

Once you are at the map site, click the elevation toggle on the bottom right of the screen to see the course's elevation and follow the course path.