Looking Ahead to the 2024 Season:

COACHES AND SEASON OVERVIEW: 

• Mrs. Courtney Baker - head coach cbaker@haddonfield.k12.nj.us
• Mrs. Michelle Cannaday - assistant coach   
• Mrs. Michele Barranger - assistant coach     

Program Philosophy The middle school cross country program exposes the team members to distance training and racing at the 1.5 mile distance. Students of all ability levels and experience are welcome to become part of the program. They will be challenged to steadily progress in their training and improve in their performances. 

Season Overview: Our schedule includes a combination of practices at Haddonfield Middle School and Pennypacker Park home course. Athletes will have the opportunity to race approximately once a week on the home course for 4 dual meets.  Athletes will practice 1-2 times a week at the Pennypacker Park home course and 1-2 times per week at the middle school, with more PPP practices earlier in the season and more HMS practices later in the season.  We also anticipate 1 8th grade only away meet and 4  championship away meets for a limited roster of qualifying team members (details TBA closer to these meets). 

SEASON SCHEDULE: 

Schedule Draft: This is our live document draft of the season schedule SEASON SCHEDULE LINKED HERE  that may have slight adjustments as we move forward into the season. We will keep in communication about changes.  We email schedule details weekly to parents and post on Google classroom for the students. 

Map of Home Course:  Map of Pennypacker Park HMS XC Home Course (1.5 miles)

Home Meets- Team members meet at Pennypacker Park picnic table area (near the baseball field/small parking lot in the park) 45 minutes before race time. Arrive at 4:00 for 4:45 race. Arrive no later than 3:30 for 4:00 race. The  middle school course is 1.5 miles within the park.  It is at the officials discretion, based on number of athletes running, whether the girls and boys race together in one race or in two separate races.  This is unknown until race time, however based on HMS' team size we almost always split into two races. (A note about parking: Please park in the Bancroft/Hopkins Pond lots.  The small lot at the course fills up, and it will be blocked off for parking shortly before 4:00, since the middle school race course runs along the lot entrance.)

UNIFORMS / GEAR: 

Uniforms - Cotton t-shirts uniform tops (adult sizes only) will be provided to new team members to keep. They are anticipated to match last year’s uniform tops (black shirt with white design). If you are unable to wear your shirt to a meet, please wear any Haddonfield gear or our school red/black colors, if possible.  For team members looking for more gear options, the popular gear store opens mid-august and will be linked here once open! It offers youth and adult sizing of singlets, dri-fit shirts, long sleeve zip ups, and sweatshirts.  The gear store is available for a limited time only for team members to purchase sweat wicking uniform t-shirts and singlet uniform tops in adult or youth sizing. Orders are scheduled to arrive the week of our first meet.

Running/Clothing: Wear supportive running shoes to prevent injuries. Bring extra sweats to keep warm in the later part of the season. Bring a labeled or identifiable water bottle to all practices and meets. 

COACH COMMUNICATION:

Parent Communication: Once your child is registered for the team in Genesis, all student guardian emails listed in Genesis are emailed a weekly update!

Student Communication: Once your child is registered for the team in Genesis, coaches will add team members to the “HMS XC 2024 Team” google classroom.  

Practice/ Meet Cancellations: In the event of rain or inclement weather, cancellations will  be announced to the students before the end of the school day.  This will occur over the HMS school announcements.  Cancellations and/or changes in scheduling will also be emailed to parents, posted on Google classroom for students, and updated on the Google document schedule.

FAQ

How will I know when I have been approved for the team? You can see the status of your sports paperwork under the athletics tab in genesis.  Mrs. Barranger is also actively reaching out to families to let you know what additional paperwork is needed!

Can I join the team after the season begins? Yes! We usually have a roster of well over 100-150 team members and this is common early in the season for new team members to join a few days late (within the first two weeks). Please understand that after the start of the season, we need to allow for processing time for the team nurse and team doctor to clear the student to practice.