Info for tomorrow's race at Oatlands (9/21)

1. Traffic is very slow on Rt. 15, particularly mid morning and later.  It is suggested giving it an extra hour for arrival.
2. There wll be a $10 CASH parking fee.  Please have the $10 bill ready to hand to the attendants to keep traffic flowing as good as possible.
3. RACE T-SHIRTS ARE ON SALE for $15 (cash only).  These always sell out, so please encourage athletes to buy them early in the day.

The first week is the tryout period. Please contact Coach DeMarco if you are missing this week. demarcjb@pwcs.edu

August 5th: 8am-11am, meet at door 20. 6pm-7pm for those who can't make the morning session at Patriot, meet at door 20.

August 6th: 8am-9:45am, meet at Brownsville Parking Lot off of Groveton Road (Manassas Battlefield). 6pm-7pm option for those who cant make the morning practice. 6pm session at Patriot at door 20. 

August 7th: 8am-3:30pm - Camp day. Practice, lectures, bring lunch, team activities

August 8th: 8am-10am: meet at Bristoe Station Battlefield. 6pm at Patriot if you can't make morning session.

August 9th: 8am-11am: Patriot at door 20.

August 10th: 8am-9:45am: Wendy's at 10700 Bulloch Drive. Manassas Battlefield. 

August 12th: 8am at Patriot, door 20.

Hi everyone,

What a crazy week for training – usually the fall is the best season and is pretty predictable, unlike winter and spring. The kids did a great job getting in good work despite not being able to train outdoors. We should be able to have a normal practice Friday. We will also have our pasta party at the Santiago’s house from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thank you for hosting! A reminder that next Tuesday we host the meet that was postponed on Wednesday due to heat.

Saturday’s meet – The Great Meadows Invite time schedule has been changed – they have moved the meet up 30 minutes and the JV races will be 3K in distance (varsity remains 5K). The buses will now leave at 6:45 am from door 20 (weight room door).  Parents coming to the meet – there is a $10 fee to park and it is cash only. That is basically the spectator fee.

Course address: Great Meadow, The Plains, VA 

Directions: From East or West Take I66 to Exit 31 (Route 245 2 miles)

Parking: GATE 2 FOR ALL PARKING (Gate will be clearly marked) Bus Parking may be off site if it rains (see updates on Milestat) $10.00 FOR PARKING

Meet Time Schedule:

UPDATED Time Schedule: Great Meadow Time Schedule 5K/3K

8:30 Varsity
A Girls Race (5K) Girls Varsity (8): Rena Johnson, Sidney Nolan, Jaya Djigo, Camila Weber, Sherlyn Philip, Daniela Ansah, Ngozi Imala, Francis Rein

9:00 Varsity
A Boys Race (5K) Boys Varsity (10): Kaiden Brewer, Carlos Garcia, Henry Birge, Oliver Knapp, Alex Eye, Marcus Burleson, Brady Widlake, Hayden Moss, Jayden Anguli, Thomas Lamonia

9:30 JV
FR/SO Girls Race (3K) Girls JV Frosh/ Soph 3K (11): Emma Ashley, Kendra Campise, Abby Curisinche, Alyssa Farewell, Claire Henning, Sarah Kim, Cami Moss, Ananya Parasram, Dakota Robinson, Audrey Shanahan, Ella Ward

9:50 JV
FR/SO Race (3K) Boys JV Frosh/ Soph 3K (13): Oliver Baumgart, Cole Bowman, Ryan Brixius, Nicholas Howell, Byron Lee, Damian Martinez, Logan McKinney, Jason Mwangi, Marek Pitera, Jackson Santiago, Xemuel Theosoumane, Andrew White, Gavin Wilcock

10:10 JV
JR/SR Girls Race (3K) Girls JV Jun/ Sen 3K (3): Zainab Soofi, Bridget Thaller, Clara El-Khouri  

10:30 JV
JR/SR Boys Race (3K) Boys JV Junior/ Senior 3K (3): Ian Bergeron, Nicholas Curisinche, Caleb Dixon

5K course map: New 5K Course Map: //assets.sp.milesplit.com/meets/514138/files/new_great_meadow_course.pdf

3K course map: New 3K Course Map: //assets.sp.milesplit.com/meets/514138/files/gm_3k.docx

Pasta Dinner: Our second pasta dinner is this week on Friday at the Santiago’s household. Thank you so much for hosting! The host family provides the main dish – spaghetti, lasagna, pasta bakes, etc. Pasta dinners are generally 5:30 to 8:30 pm. Everyone must leave by 8:30 pm, coaches order. Movies must be PG-13, PG, or G. Board games, recreational games like ping pong, non-gory video games, are okay.

The address is 9053 Roaring Spring Loop, Bristow, VA 20136

Bring enough for 8-10 people.

Freshmen are to bring fruit or salad

Sophomores are to bring bread (French bread, Garlic bread, etc) or dessert

Juniors are to bring drinks

Seniors have desserts

Pasta Party Hosts – THANK YOU!

August 31^st – Miner Family

September 8^th – Santiago Family

September 22^nd – Nolan Family

September 29^th – Henning Family

October 6^th – Johnson Family

October 25^th – Bergeron Family

$20 Patriot Booster cards – The booster card sales are due today – bring any unsold cards and the money paid for the others to practice. I have to turn everything in by Monday. If you forget try and bring it to the meet so I can get the deposit slip correct prior to Monday.

Gooder Sunglasses – These very popular sunglasses don’t bounce, are polarized, cheap and customized to Patriot High School. They go for $30.00 and we get to keep half, and the Running Store gets the other half. If you would like a pair you can pick up a pair at practice. Make check out to Patriot Booster Club with cross country in the memo. Check or cash. If you see me in person you can use a credit card using my phone.

Drivers: Thursday (9/14) we will head back to Bristow Station Battlefield for practice. We could use a few parent drivers – so parents who are driving their son or daughter, if you are able to take one or two more students that would be helpful. Please have your son/ daughter meet at the commons 2 and then let them know where you will be to load. I will also be there to help facilitate. If we don’t have enough rides for everyone we will stay at Patriot to practice.

Next week:

Monday at Patriot, 2:30-5 pm

Tuesday at Patriot, Make up meet from the meet that was postponed due to the heat. Boys compete at 5:30 pm and girls are at 6:05 pm. 5K at Patriot. Kids go home after school. Come back to Patriot at 4:30 pm (be at team tent by 4:30 to warm-up). Parents we will need volunteers. Look for an email Sunday night for volunteer spots.

Wednesday at Patriot, 2:30-5pm

Thursday at Bristow Station Battlefield, 2:30 pm in commons 2, practice starts at Bristow Station Battlefield at 3pm. 3pm-4:45.

Friday at Patriot, 2:30-4:45 pm.

Saturday at Manassas Battlefield 8am – 10 am. 10700 Bulloch Drive, at the Wendy’s Restaurant

Hi everyone,

Thank you to everyone who was able to come out and work on the trail. We had a big group and we finished the course! We will be hosting our first meet this Friday. Thank you everyone!!!

Uniforms: We handed out uniforms and apparel orders yesterday at practice.

Pasta Dinner: Our first pasta dinner is this week on Thursday at the Miner household. Thank you so much for hosting! The host family provides the main dish – spaghetti, lasagna, pasta bakes, etc. Pasta dinners are generally 5:30 to 8:30 pm. Everyone must leave by 8:30 pm, coaches order. Movies must be PG-13, PG, or G. Board games, recreational games like ping pong, non-gory video games, are okay.

The address is 13813 Estate Manor Drive, Gainesville.

Bring enough for 8-10 people.

Freshmen are to bring fruit or salad

Sophomores are to bring bread (French bread, Garlic bread, etc) or dessert

Juniors are to bring drinks

Seniors have desserts

We have most slots full – but need a host for September 8^th and September 29^th.

August 31^st – Miner Family

September 8^th - ?

September 22^nd – Nolan Family

September 29^th - Henning Family

October 6^th – Johnson Family

October 25^th – Bergeron Family

First meet – We will need some parent help, mainly directing traffic. Buses will park in the bus loop at Patriot (second entrance – by T. Clay Elementary School) and spectators will go in the main school entrance.

We will need course marshals, concessions, and folks handing out medals at the finish line.

Those who do not have 20 practices (I let everyone know yesterday where they are at) will be ready to warm-up at 7am on the Bermuda field for practice. They will run an 8am time trial run and then help with the meet – no Patriot uniform but can wear Patriot clothing. Wear racing shoes (spikes) if you have them.

7:00 am non-racers start warming up

8:00 am non-racers time trial course

8:00 am Girls B race participants start warming-up

8:25 am Boys B race participants start warming-up

8:45 am Girls A race participants start warming up

Patriot XC Meet Schedule:

9:00 am Girls B race starts 

9:25 am Boys B Race starts

9:45 am Girls A race starts 

10:10 am Boys A race starts (warm-up at 9:10 am)

10:25 am Girls C race starts (warm-up at 9:25 am)

10:55 am Boys C race starts (warm-up at 9:55 am)

11:20 am – course clean up.

$20 Patriot Booster cards – The booster club would like each athlete to sell 5 cards ($20 each). You can certainly sell more. You can drop off any money to me at practice and then I turn in the deposit form to the school. If you have not received an envelope (with the five cards) please let me know.

Gooder Sunglasses – These very popular sunglasses don’t bounce, are polarized, cheap and customized to Patriot High School. They go for $30.00 and we get to keep half, and the Running Store gets the other half. If you would like a pair we will sell them at the xc meet. We can take credit card, check or cash.

Drivers: Yesterday we did not have enough drivers to get to Bristow Station, so had to change plans and stay at the school. We could use a few parent drivers – so parents who are driving their son or daughter, if you are able to take one or two more students that would be helpful. Please have your son/ daughter meet at the commons 2 and then let them know where you will be to load. I will also be there to help facilitate. If we don’t have enough rides we will have those without a ride practice from the high school.

Second meet – It will be here soon, Wednesday (9/6) at Patriot. This will be a 5K and is a district meet with the other six schools. These Wednesday meets are great events for our new kids and usually our top kids use them as workouts. The races start at 5:30 pm. The kids can go home after school and be back by 4:15 at the Bermuda field or stay after school and help set the course up. Only two races, one boys and one girls. All done by 6:45pm.

Third meet – That Saturday (9/9) at Great Meadows. First big meet. We have two buses for the meet – more details to come. Meet information here:

Thanks everyone!

Coach James DeMarco

The team has been working hard and we had several athletes have a tremendous summer of dedicated training. We also welcomed a few more kids to the team. A little less than 10% of the team are seniors and over 61% are freshmen and sophomores. It is a young team, but we have excellent leaders. We have some of the very best runners in the state of Virginia and a lot of beginners. I am excited to get the racing underway and see where we are as a team.

Thank you to everyone who was able to come out and work on the trail. I was hoping for more people to show up, but the group we had did amazing work. We will have one more trail work day prior to our first meet on Saturday.

Uniforms: We have opened up the store and it closes TONIGHT at midnight. Please get your orders in for your uniform and shirts. https://stores.athletesmark.com/patriot_XC/shop/home

Drivers: New this year - they want a permission form from parents for off-site practices. It was handed out to day in the weight room. It is also attached to this email. Tomorrow we will be at Bristow Station Battlefield at 3 pm. The kids who need rides meet in Commons 2 at 2:30 pm to get rides to the park (Upper classmen meet them and kids with parents who can take extras). Parents are to pick up at the Bristow Station Battlefield when practice is done. We could use a few parent drivers – so parents who are driving their son or daughter, if you are able to take one or two more students that would be helpful. Please have your son/ daughter meet at the commons 2 and then let them know where you will be to load. I will also be there to help facilitate. If we don’t have enough rides we will have those without a ride practice from the high school.

$20 Pioneer Cards – The booster club would like each athlete to sell 5 cards ($20 each). You can certainly sell more. You can drop off any money to me at practice and then I turn in the deposit form to the school. If you have not received an envelope (with the five cards) please let me know.

Pasta Dinner: We have most slots full – but need a host for September 8^th and September 29^th.

August 31^st – Miner Family

September 8^th - ?

September 22^nd – Nolan Family

September 29^th - ?

October 6^th – Johnson Family

October 25^th – Bergeron Family

First week of school – the first week of school is always tough and are long days. We try and keep practices a little shorter this week. Also, Saturday practices, are supposed to be attended by everyone. There have only been 19 at the last two Saturday practices.

First meet – It will be here soon, and then we have three competitions in eight days. Everyone gets to compete. You must attend 20 practices prior to getting to compete. If you did a two-a-day that only counts as one. If you missed the morning session but attended an evening practice that does count.

Hi Everyone!

Today is the last day to get paperwork in to join the cross-country team. You need to get it to me or Mr. Qualls today (Wednesday the 16th). If you are out of town or have another reason email me today and let me know when you are coming out. Need to know today!

Today is our camp day. You will need to bring lunch, snacks, a change of clothes and your uniform. If you don’t have your uniform we will get a shirt or extra jersey for you. Pictures will be at 1:55 pm on Wednesday (during the camp day).

Camp Day schedule:

8:00am-10:30am practice

10:40am-11:10 lunch

11:15-12:00 – captain’s activity

12:00-1:30pm – classroom – training, goals, nutrition, sleep, etc

1:30-1:50 get ready for pictures

1:55-2:20 pm pictures at track

2:30-2:50pm – name games

2:50-3:25pm – big group games

COURSE WORKDAY: THIS Saturday noon to 2pm. Need weed wackers, rakes, shovels, ax picks, chain saws, tree clippers. Bring work gloves, long sleeves and light pants work best.

Reminders: We extended time to buy gear due to not everyone getting their orders in. You have until Thursday (tomorrow).

Uniform orders – the kids buy their uniforms, but we use the same uniform in indoor and outdoor track & field so you don’t have to buy another. We also use the same uniform year to year. Orders are now DUE Thursday by midnight (August 17^th). Parents may also want a shirt, sweatshirt, or jacket to wear to meets. ORDER HERE: https://stores.athletesmark.com/patriot_XC/shop/home

Make sure to bring a water bottle (or two) to practice plus a recovery snack (protein 13+ grams and 40+ carbs) to have while stretching or immediately after practice.

After runs, check for ticks, and make sure to shower.

Practice locations:

Before school starts – 8 am

Mon, Wed, Fri: Patriot H.S., meet at door 20 in the weight room

Tues: Brownsville parking lot off of Groveton Road (which is off of Bray Lane)

Thurs: Bristow Station Battlefield

Sat: Manassas Battlefield – meet at Wendy’s restaurant at 10700 Bulloch Drive (mall where DMV is)

When school starts – 2:30 pm except Tues and Thurs 3 pm

Mon, Wed, Fri – Patriot High School

Tues, Thurs: Bristow Station Battlefield

Sat - Manassas Battlefield – meet at Wendy’s restaurant at 10700 Bulloch Drive (mall where DMV is)

PASTA DINNERS – need volunteers to host a pasta party at their house. Email me the date you would like to host. Open to seniors and juniors first. See the dates below. Three are left.

Fundraising – The Patriot Booster Club would like all athletes to sell 5 discount cards each ($20 each). You can definitely sell more. Our program gets to keep $10 from each card for cross country. These go home today.

Gooder Sunglasses – We have Patriot-themed Gooder sunglasses for sale. They are $35 and we get $15 dollars from the Running Store. We will have a sign-up sheet to sell at the beginning of football games.

Communication – Communicate mostly through Emails, Final Surge is where workouts are posted. PatriotPioneers.org also is updated weekly (click Fall, then cross country).

Milestat.com – State website has all the results posted and also under the calendar, you can find all the meet information of the races we are going to.

Equipment needed – good shoes (The Running Store gives a discount to high school runners – by Panera Bread in Gainesville). Watch, water bottle, good socks, and sports bras for the girls. If your son/ daughter really likes cross country getting a pair of racing shoes (spikes) is very helpful. Spikes are cheaper than training shoes.

Volunteers - with Patriot hosting four meets this year we need parent's help. Meets will start at 5:30 pm. We need course marshalls (point the way), chute helpers, and also course work days. Emails coming soon.

To Letter -

▪      Earn enough points at the end of the season. Each team we compete against must earn one letter point. Mini-district meets do not count for letter points. If we race against 114 teams, need 114 points to letter.

▪      Beat a runner on another team's top seven, you earn a point. Beat four, and you earn four points.

▪      Represent the team at regions or states.

▪      Seniors who did an excellent job leading, encouraging, and leading by example. Always helping the younger athletes.

▪      Seniors who competed in four years of cross country.

Sleep, nutrition – the kids need to be getting 8-9 hours of sleep to adapt to the training we are doing – maximize recovery which maximizes adaptation (getting better). Bring recovery food (protein/ carbs) to eat immediately after practice. Electrolytes (Gatorade, propel, etc) are also needed. A colorful plate of food. Food is fuel! Zinc when feeling a cold coming. Need iron and vit C foods (go together). Calcium, magnesium, and vit D go together for bone health (Vit D needs fat) – so whole milk is great. Calcium and iron do not go together – foods should be consumed 30 minutes apart.

Important dates:

August 17^th – uniforms orders are due https://stores.athletesmark.com/patriot_XC/shop/home

August 16^th – Team Camp Day 8:00-3:30 pm (bring lunch and snacks, plus a change of clothes). Also Team Picture Day at 1:55 pm.

August 17^th – New Student Orientation 12-2 pm

August 21^st – School starts

August 31^st – pasta dinner (volunteer)

September 1^st – Patriot XC Invite (first meet)

September 6^th – District meet at Patriot (2^nd meet)

September 8^th – Pasta Dinner (volunteer)

September 9^th – Great Meadows Invite – The Plains (Warrenton)

September 16^th – MAYBE RVA RELAYS – varsity A team only

September 20^th – District Meet at Patriot (4^th meet)

September 22^nd – Pasta Dinner (Nolan Family)

September 23^rd – Oatlands Invite (Oatlands Plantation)

September 29^th – Pasta Dinner (volunteer)

September 30^th – Glory Days (Bull Run Park)

October 6^th – Pasta Dinner (Johnson Family)

October 7^th – Octoberfest – The Plains (Warrenton)

October 11^th – District Meet at Patriot (8^th meet)

October 14^th – Milestat Invite (Pole Green Park – Mechanicsville) Kings Dominion after

October 25th – Pasta dinner before districts (Bergeron Family) Halloween theme

October 26th – District Championships at Nokesville Park

November 2^nd – Regional Championships at Great Meadows

Nov. 11^th – VHSL State Championships at Oatlands

Nov. 19^th – Nike Regional Meet – Raleigh, NC https://nxrse.runnerspace.com/