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The tragic events of September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington
DC cast a cloud over the entire nation. But the meet will go as
the country attempts to return to normal. The meet and teams adjusted
plans in many cases. Here is the meet management's status report:
Overview – Approximately 5000 athletes and 670 teams will
run in the 2001 Great American Cross Country Festival. National
Powers Saratoga Springs, Bingham and Mountain View have
reconfirmed their commitment to compete this coming weekend. Below
is a brief outline of major points:
Many Northeastern schools are chartering buses and will leave for
Charlotte on Thursday
and they are therefore bringing their entire programs to cover the
cost of the bus.
Athletes from 7 high schools in Great Britain will be the first
to arrive in Charlotte. Their
flight from London’s Gatwick is scheduled to arrive on Wednesday
afternoon, September
19, 2001.
Oak Bay High School from British Columbia, Canada will leave for
Charlotte on Wednesday and spend the evening with the Snohomish
team in Seattle. The two teams will travel
together to Charlotte on Thursday morning by way of USAir.
Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, East Tennessee, South Carolina
State, North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Appalachian State and UNC-Charlotte
have all entered Great
American’s Collegiate race, scheduled for Friday evening, September
21. They will join
host school Winthrop, BYU, Arkansas, North Carolina State, Duke,
Furman, Georgia,
Yale, South Carolina, Michigan, the Naval Academy and many more
regional teams.
A memorial service will be held on Friday evening at 6:55 pm after
the high school Pasta Dinner and before the Collegiate Men’s
Race. The Northwestern High School Band of 180 people will perform.
The Middle School Boys’ Race and Middle School Girls’
Race will be held conducted
together to provide more time in the schedule to conduct the Memorial
Service. These two races will start at 6:15 pm, on Friday evening.
A 15-minute non-denominational service will be held in the party
tents adjacent to the
starting line at 7:00 am on Saturday morning. All faiths will be
represented and this will be
a special time of fellowship and worship for our entire Great American
family.
All high school races will be conducted as planned and as per the
new schedule posted
on this site. Please note that the JV Boys’ and Girls’
Races and Open Boys’ and Girls’
will be conducted in two sections starting 10 minutes apart. All
teams in these races must report to the check-in area no less than
40 minutes before their race.
We encourage many JV and Open teams to race in the Frosh/Soph and
Small School
races held later in the day. These races are less crowded and offer
a better opportunity for awards.
Roster and or race changes must be completed by Wednesday, September
19th.
Please plan to arrive together as a team early in the day. Teams
running in late morning
races should not try to arrive just before their race. The event
is too large to handle normal package pick-up and runner check-in
in a brief period of time before a race.
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