Meet - Pickens Preview Middle School Cross Country - August 19, 2017

Roper Park, 1826 Refuge Road, Jasper, GA 30143

Meet entry page.  Entries close Wednesday, August 16, 8:00 pm.

Coach Matthew's Notes
  • See bottom of this page for map of Parking and Meeting location.
  • This is a middle school meet (see link for details) for 6th-8th grade athletes.
  • The race distance is about 2 miles / 3200 meters.
  • The middle school race is the first race of the day.  High schools compete afterwards.
  • We have uniforms for you to wear. Coach Matthew will have singlets for those who did pick them up in practice. Ideally, you wear your own black shorts, but color isn't important.
  • Review our Meet Day Preparations for some guidelines.  Athletes should arrive no less than 45 minutes before their starting time.
  • See bottom of this page for map of Parking and Meeting location.
    • The team meeting area will be the bleachers next to the ball field near the main entry gate.
    • There will not be a team tent. Look for Coach Matthew or Alpha Crush parents wearing team shirts and other Alpha Crush athletes.
    • All athletes should arrive no later than 7:15 am, to give athletes time to warm up!
  • Athletes will go to the starting line 10-15 minutes before their race, but they should already be warmed up.
  • Athletes are responsible for their own warm-up.  It doesn't mean a coach won't help, but don't stand around waiting for someone to come get you.  If you arrive in plenty of time, all will be OK, as coaches will gather athletes.  But, if you come late, you may miss the "group" warm-up and will have to warm-up on your own.
  • This is the meet information page provided by the race director, not Coach Matthew.  It is provided for your information.  Don't be confused by entry fees, etc.  Alpha Crush takes care of all the administration.
Olympia Timing will handle results and scoring. Each athlete will be assigned a shoe chip and each athlete's name and time will appear in the official results for their race. Please note the following:
  1. Bib numbers must match the chip numbers for each athlete.
  2. Use the provided zip-ties to secure chips to EITHER shoe. We will remove the chips in the finish chute with scissors, and attaching the chip to shoelaces means we’ll have to cut shoelaces!
  3. VERY IMPORTANT – please return ALL your team chips to the Timers at the finish line before leaving. There is a $20 fee for each unreturned chip.
  4. Live results: http://www.olympiaresources.org 
Race Times:
  1. Middle School Boys - (3200 meters) 7:45 AM
    • Alpha Crush competes in this event
    • Please plan to arrive by 7:15 am
  2. Middle School Girls - (3200 meters) 8:15 AM
    • Alpha Crush completes in this event
    • Ideally, you would arrive by 7:15 am. If you arrive later, Coach Matthew will be at start of Boys race and you will have to wait for him to return to designated meeting area described in image below.
  3. HS Varsity Boys - (5K) 9:00 AM
  4. HS Varsity Girls - (5K) 9:30 AM
  5. HS J.V. Boys - (5K) 10:15 AM
  6. HS J.V. Girls - (5K) 10:45 AM
Awards: Team trophies to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams in Middle School and Varsity races. No team awards in J.V. races. Individual awards to top 10 finishers in every race, boys and girls. Special "Pickens Preview Race Champion" t-shirt to individual winners for each race.

Middle School team awards will be presented after start of Girls' Varsity race. Varsity team awards will be presented after completion of all races. Individual top 10 medals for each race will be presented at the finish chute.

Course: With a little walking, runners are visible over approximately 1/2 of the course with great views of start and finish for spectators. Course is mostly flat, but with some short, challenging hills and a tunnel. Terrain varies and includes grass, asphalt, gravel road, dirt, and cement sidewalk. The high school course loops around Roper Park, passes through a tunnel (under Refuge Rd.) to a loop behind Pickens County Middle School, and then passes back through the tunnel to finish in Roper Park. Finish is close to the start.

The middle school course involves much of the same terrain and will also go through the tunnel to the Pickens County Middle School part of the course. Runners will return to finish on the same field they start on.

Facilities: Restrooms will be available.

Concessions: Food and drinks will be available.

Spectator Admission: A $5 entry fee will be charged for adults, $2 entry for students and children.

T-shirts: Customizable meet T-shirts by EagleSportz will be available for sale .

Parking: We've made some changes to our parking plan this year with the hope of alleviating some traffic congestion and making the process of teams getting to the field much easier. This year, buses will park in the Pickens County Rec Dept parking lot off of Camp Road.  This will give teams much closer access to the baseball field where all of the team tents will be placed and allow teams to avoid having to cross Refuge Road. For teams traveling north, you will turn right at the 3rd traffic light (QuikTrip on corner) off of Hwy 515 and follow Camp Rd. until you reach the park.  And obviously, teams travelling south on 515 will turn left onto Camp Road.  

More Parking: Aerial Views of Parking [Download] [View]
There will be police officers and volunteers (wearing neon yellow vests) directing traffic and offering assistance to everyone upon arrival.  There are a total of 6 aerial views, and visitor parking areas are designated by the green boxes (V1-V7), and the plan is to fill those parking lots in that order (V1 being filled first, V7 filled last).  Slides 2-5 show close-up views of visitor parking areas, and slide 6 shows the bus parking area next to the Pickens County Rec Dept and visitor parking areas 6 and 7.   

Spectators who park at Pickens County Middle School should enter Roper Park via the tunnel. For safety reasons, please DO NOT TRY TO CROSS REFUGE RD. on foot!

3200m Middle School Course Map - click image to enlarge

Parking and Meeting Area - click image to enlarge
Parking areas marked 1 through 5, and will be filled in that order, per parking plan described above.