Welcome to the 2023 season of the Hale cross country team! I’m very excited to be back as coach for the team this fall, and I can’t wait for the season to get started!
PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS
The Hale cross country team is open to any student who wishes to participate, provided the following criteria are met:
- A student must be in good academic standing. Students must maintain an average of 70% or better in their core academic subjects throughout the season - if a student’s average falls below 70%, they may not be allowed to compete in meets.
- A student must have an up-to-date physical on file. The physical must have been conducted within the past 13 months; the physical on file needs to be replaced with a newer physical if the 13-month period expires mid-season.
- Online registration must be completed before a student can join us for practice. Our first practice is scheduled for Monday, September 11. Registration is done online through Final Forms (LINK).
- A user fee of $55 must be paid by September 22. Checks should be made out to Hale Middle School and submitted to the school office, or you can pay online through the district’s Online Payment Center (LINK)
Team members are expected to attend all team events, including practices, and they cannot miss any team event to attend another non-school-sponsored sport. If an athlete has a conflict with a school-sponsored activity, such as an extra help session, instrument lesson, or club meeting, please let the coach know in advance. I do allow team members to miss practice for club meetings / band practice / extra help sessions, but I do ask that team members be in attendance for all meets. If an athlete is unable to attend a team event due to illness, religious observance, or other unexpected conflict, please contact the coach.
PRACTICES
Practices will be held every Monday through Thursday unless there is a scheduled meet. Practice will run from 2:30pm to 3:45pm. Please bring a pair of running shoes or sneakers, a pair of athletic shorts or sweatpants, and a weather-appropriate shirt. You will be practicing into late October, and some of you may run into November, so please dress accordingly!
If the weather outside is too poor to conduct an outdoor practice, we will hold that day’s practice in the school gym. Should the weather be bordering on dangerous, I will cancel practice outright. Be advised: I only cancel practices in extreme circumstances. If a practice is canceled, I will notify parents via email, and there will be an announcement made at the school to inform the athletes. If you do not hear anything, assume that the practice is still on.
There may be additional practices on Fridays and Columbus Day, depending on what we need to focus our training on. These practices will be announced in advance, and they will be held off campus at one of the town’s conservation areas. I know that not everyone has easy access to transportation, so any practice held on a Friday or Columbus Day is optional - attendance is not required. Be advised that these workouts will be challenging, and they will be designed to target specific areas of our training that we can’t address at Hale. If you are not able to make an optional practice, that’s fine - we will see you at our next regularly scheduled team activity.
MEETS
Our meet schedule is still being finalized at the moment - the most accurate schedule can be found online at the district’s Arbiter Sports page (LINK - boys & girls have the same schedule). Meets will start during the week of September 18. Team members are expected to attend every meet, even if they are unable to compete. In the event that a meet is canceled due to inclement weather, I will try to hold a practice at Hale. As previously mentioned, I don’t like to cancel, so be prepared to do some team activity.
Our home meets will be held at Hale Middle School. I will try to start them as soon as possible, but they generally start around 4:00pm - the delay is due to the visiting team needing to travel to us, then they need to walk the course so that they know where they’re going. Our course is one of the longer races we will run this year, coming in at about 3km (1.87mi) in length. You are always more than welcome to come watch our meets - if you arrive late, please be careful of athletes running down Hartley Road, as the meet may have already started.
For our away meets, we will have a bus take us to the meet and back to Hale. If you are interested in coming to watch, I will try to provide an address to our away meets. There are three options to return to Hale from our away meets:
- OPTION 1: Your athlete returns to Hale on the bus. If your athlete is returning to Hale on the bus, I do not need to know in advance.
- OPTION 2: Your athlete goes home with their own parents / guardians. If you are taking your own athlete from the meet, I do not need to know in advance - I do ask that your athlete please check in with me before you leave so we know they are all set.
- OPTION 3: Your athlete goes home with anyone else. If your athlete is going with any other individual, advance notice is required. Please send me an email before we get on the bus the day of the meet (2:30pm). If no notice is received, your child will need to return to Hale on the bus.
MEET RESULTS
I have set up a page at Blogger to post results from all our meets, optional workouts, links to the season schedule, and other important information - check it out when you get the chance: coachbenlangelo.blogspot.com
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP MEET / ADDITIONAL MEETS
We are planning on competing in the Mass. Middle School Cross Country Championship this fall. It will be held on Saturday, November 4 at Willard Field in Devens. This meet is open to anyone on the team who wishes to participate; everyone entered will be able to run in a race at the meet. Please mark your calendars and let me know if you are interested in competing.
We may also be participating in another invitational meet in late October, depending on what our schedule looks like - I will send along more details as the day approaches.
CONTACTING ME
My preferred method of contact is via email, as I am in class during the day and won’t always be able to answer my phone. If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact me. I will try to respond as quickly as I can.
I’m excited to be back for my 15th season coaching at Hale - looking forward to working with you all this season!
