Here is some advance information regarding the State Meet planning and some proposed changes we are anticipating putting into place this year. I’ll highlight some of the changes here and if you have questions, please send them back to me. I don’t intend to “replay all” to the questions, but rather, make sure I address those questions at the meeting. The changes we are looking at are based on the feedback provided by the survey conducted at the conclusion of the meet last year.
Awards: The plan is to give out all awards at the race venue following the conclusion of the MS and HS portions of the race on Both days. There will be no evening awards on Saturday. Also, there will be no group dinner or banquet planned. The presentations will take place outdoors in front of the spectator viewing area.
Ice Cream Social: This will be moved to the Great Hall and done near the end of competition on Saturday. This once again has been graciously provided by Apple Awards and Dennis Smith.
Coaches Awards: These awards will be presented prior to the Coaches Meeting at the Great Hall on Friday. Recognition at the race venue may also be provided during awards as an announcement as well.
Race Schedule: The race schedule will be flipped to Classic first this year. So Saturday is Classic day and Sunday is Freestyle day. Also, and this is a big departure from the past, the Middle School will run first on Sunday morning. We have also looked to consolidate the running of the races, especially Sunday, to allow for more travel time home for the long distance teams. Of course, that schedule is impacted by things like number of competitors in each race and if we have to incorporate a break into the schedule. I’ll discuss race course in a bit, but the current schedule anticipates a single start without a break for each race.
Trail: We have been working with Jim Soukup on a different trail layout for the HS races. Right now, we are looking at a course that runs out to the Power Line and back along another trail. The total distance we have currently is a bit long so we are trying to see how we can pare that down to meet the State Meet maximum of 7.5K. Right now, we are closer to 8.5K and feel that will not be acceptable. The new trail does cover some of the course we ran on last year, but the new additions look to make it more technical which many commented was missing on last year’s course.. Some of you may be familiar with these trails as much of the return loop runs into the Telemark property. Much of this course is also anticipated to be used for the Junior Cup (JNQ) races except that we will take out some even more challenging terrain that is not as appropriate for our group. The Middle School course is anticipated to be the same as last year. Copies of the proposed courses are attached but please keep in mind that we will be changing things yet as we need to shorten the HS course a bit.
Great Hall: First, the Great Hall has undergone a few improvements, most noticeably, a ceiling has been dropped in and is insulated above it to make it a little more usable as a people gathering site. The building will once again house ski waxing and concessions. For waxing, we will not be allowed to put anything on the floor to protect it from wax – fire code reasons. Teams will be asked to clean their areas after each session. Because of space limitations, teams will not be allowed to use the concession area as a bag drop zone. Teams should plan accordingly if they want a place outdoors with a tent or other accommodations. . There will be a changing area constructed for the athletes within the Great Hall.
Live Streaming: We are planning to live stream the races on the Internet using the CXC production capabilities for this purpose. So for those who cannot make the trip, we hope to put on a fairly decent production that will include commentary and graphics (just like the big boys) to provide a very watchable experience.
That should be enough to get us going and hopefully this preliminary information will be helpful in facilitating a good conversation on Sunday. Again, shoot me your questions which I will attempt to answer on Sunday.
ATTACHMENTS:
- Schedule: https://cxcnewsfeed.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/schedule.pdf
- Old School 4.2 K: https://cxcnewsfeed.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/oldskool-4-2-km.pdf
- MS Course 1.9K: https://cxcnewsfeed.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/ms-ccourse-1-9k.pdf
John Burke
Performance Timing, LLC
5907 Old Coach Road
Wausau, WI 54401
john@performancetiming.com
http://www.performancetiming.com
715-218-7883
cxcnewsfeed.wordpress.com 