Provincial Cross Country Championships

Championship will be taking place at Epinette Creek Trail in Sprucewoods Provincial Park.

Schedule: (participants should be prepared to compete 10 minutes ahead of schedule)

11:30 am Coaches meeting
12:00 pm Varsity Boys team and open     5000 m
12:30 pm JV Boys team and open            4000 m
1:00 pm Varsity Girls team and open       4000 m
1:30 pm JV Girls team and open              3000 m

ONLINE ROSTER must be entered by Friday, April 22nd. All junior varsity and varsity athletes must be submitted online, regardless of their participation in the Provincial Championships. JV and Varsity Athletes must be registered on separate rosters.

ZONE ENTRIES must be in by Thursday, May 5. No late entries will be accepted (Early Entries are encouraged and appreciated). All entries must be submitted by the zone convenor on the spreadsheet provided by the MHSAA. Thisspreadsheet will be emailed to all zone convenors in September. Schools and convenors should double check entries as errors may not be corrected at the meet.

FORMAT & RULES
A) ENTRIES: The Zone Convenor(s) must be the only person submitting the team names and individual names to the provincial convenor. Entries must be sent in on Zone Entry forms provided by the MHSAA. These forms will be emailed to zone convenors. LATE AND/OR INCORRECT ENTRIES MAY BE SUBJECT TO A FINE.
▪ Please ensure schools participating in Provincial Championships
receive all information needed.
▪ Please ensure that participants who are representing your zone will attend the Provincial Championship.
▪ Only one (1) team per school, per category, is allowed. Open entries and team entries will run together.

FORMAT: There will be provincial competitions for cross country in both the Varsity and Junior Varsity categories. All “A-AAA” schools will be scored as one classification, while all “AAAA” schools will be scored as one classification.

RULES:
In order to qualify for the junior varsity competition, an athlete must meet the following requirements:
a) Participating athletes must be under the age of 17 as of midnight of the current school year, August 31.
b) Students are eligible to participate in junior varsity for two years. In determining the two-year clause, member schools must count grade 9 as the first year. The athlete's eligibility begins upon enrolment in grade 9 and is allowed two consecutive years of competition from time of enrolment in grade 9.

Team Composition: each school must declare no less than five runners and no more than seven runners.

Open runners which are not included in the team composition may still run and are eligible for the overall open championship.

The Team Champion will be determined by the team which has the lowest accumulated score after adding the placing of the school’s first five runners.
(e.g.) Cross Country Collegiate
Name       Placing
Jack O      2             Joe. B            11
Tai N        4             John D.          16
Bud D      8             TEAM SCORE   41

Important Note: Teams must start the race with at least 5 runners. If your team finishes with less than 5 runners, a 'phantom' number, which would be equivalent to the number of the last runner in the race, would be assigned to the nonfinishing competitor.

Team results will be separated from Open results. (e.g.)
Overall Sheet     Team Place     Overall Sheet       Team Place
1 Open runner                         4 Pete Haines      2
2 Abdul Smith     1                   5 Joe Johnson     3
3 Open runner                         6 Open runner

If two or more teams are tied with identical team scores, the tie will be broken using the finish of the best 5th team runner.

Uniform Rule: Competitors must wear appropriate cross-country attire. No headgear is allowed, and school uniforms must be worn. Absolutely No multicoloured t-shirts, slogan t-shirts, ulticoloured shorts, or cut off jean shorts will be acceptable for participants to wear. Tights may be allowed as long as they have no more than two (2) colours. In the case of inclement weather,
clothing adaptations will be announced at the coaches meeting. No Headgear is permitted to be worn during the awards ceremony.
Coaches should be advised that if the uniform rule is not adhered to, the athlete may not be allowed to compete, and the school may be fined between $50-$200. The school may also be put on probation (probation being that if the school violates the infraction again, the school may be fined $200 and be suspended from all MHSAA activities).

Advertising on uniforms must adhere to guidelines as outlined on pages 132-133 of the MHSAA Handbook.

AWARDS
Awards Presentation: All teams are expected to stay for the presentation of the awards. TEAMS MAY BE FINED FOR NOT BEING PRESENT AT THE AWARDS PRESENTATION.

Awards will be presented for two classifications (“A-AAA” and “AAAA”), including each category (JV girls, JV boys, Varsity girls and Varsity boys), The championship teams will receive the Championship banner, first place medals and Championship T-shirts (7). The runner up teams will receive second place medals (7). Third place team will receive third place medals (7). Individual first place will receive a first place medal and Championship T-shirt. The runner up individual will receive a second place medal. The third place individual will receive a third place medal.

SUPERVISION
At all MHSAA Provincial Championships, interzone and wildcard games, participants must have a teacher from the school division in attendance as a supervisor, or they will not be allowed to compete. In individual sports where it may be unrealistic for one teacher to accompany one student, the zone may designate teacher supervisors for athletes. This must be a written request, signed by each principal involved, and approved by the MHSAA, well in advance. The designated teacher supervisor should have a copy of the letter, with them during the championship. Teachers employed in the school division where they are coaching a team, may be the
supervisor for that team. The responsibility rests with the school to ensure that supervisor(s) are fully acquainted with all MHSAA rules, regulations, and consequences. Violation of this rule may result in a fine up to a maximum of $200.

INCLEMENT WEATHER PROCEDURE
The MHSAA, in cases of severe weather disruptions, may have to make decisions as to the possible rescheduling of Provincial Championships. MHSAA decisions will be based on Environment Canada weather reports, the Manitoba Highway reports and weather conditions at the host site. Information on possible schedule changes will be posted on the host website between 6:30 and 7:00 am on the day of the Championship. Schools will also be emailed any changes. In case of inclement weather, schools should refrain from travelling to Provincial Championships until they receive notification from the MHSAA Assistant Executive Director with instructions and updated scheduling. Schools deciding to travel prior to receiving notification from MHSAA Assistant Executive Director do so at their own risk and will be responsible for their travel and hotel costs, should the event be postponed or changed.
Many schools travel to Provincial Championships on the day prior to the championship beginning. In cases where most schools are already at the host site, the convenor along with MHSAA assistant director will try to modify schedules to accommodate teams that will be arriving later due to weather conditions.