1. Car Wash this Saturday 8/26 12-4 at the Sunoco on McMurray Rd. near the Dunkin Donuts. 🚗🧽🚙🧽🚘 This is historically a great fundraiser for us. Please sign up to help here: https://usccrosscountry.com/volunteer/
2. Team store is open and orders are due by 8/28- just a few days away! ⚫🤍🚩There’s something for everyone! Items will arrive in about 1 month. https://bsnteamsports.com/shop/5DEB1fCBs5
3. Coaches will go over Team Rules with athletes this week. ✅ Athlete and parent must sign off: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeOYgskUHyq8LfNikwcReknYStYw9UMyQ26XdAbsv8ADCUq1Q/viewform

Thanks to all the parents and athletes for a wonderful turnout at the Parents Booster Meeting/Athlete pool party. I think everyone had a great time. Especially if you missed the meeting, please make sure you review this blog post and the linked minutes at the end of this post. We’re throwing a ton of information at you at the beginning of the season! Highlighting here the important items for this week!

1. Today 8/21 practice is at 3:30 PM and it is the last day to join the team! Tomorrow’s practice is at 8:30AM and uniform distribution to follow at about 10:00AM in room 226 (Coach Petrick’s classroom). After that, the practice schedule falls into the regular routine: M-Th 3:05 PM and F 2:50 PM all at the track, non-meet Saturdays 8:30AM at the rec center.
2. All Events Calendar can be found here- includes meets and all booster activities (fundraisers, pasta dinners, etc.) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_qm7uNOZ6bRmOXqHSPonRUyRlR1YhEhq2kAxtU8UdVo/edit
3. We are almost at 100% participation with dues ($80 per athlete). Any outstanding dues can be paid by Zelle (send to uschsxc@gmail.com) or check payable to USCHSXC and mailed to Howie Ginsburg 2433 Kings La 15241.
4. A separate athletic department fee is payable to the school district (to support expenses such as busing, uniforms, etc). https://uscsdathletics.com/main/otherad/contentID/55470862
5. Team store is open and orders are due by 8/28. Items will arrive in about 1 month. https://bsnteamsports.com/shop/5DEB1fCBs5
6. Coaches will go over Team Rules with athletes this week. Athlete and parent must sign off: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeOYgskUHyq8LfNikwcReknYStYw9UMyQ26XdAbsv8ADCUq1Q/viewform
7. Car Wash this Saturday 8/26 at the Sunoco on McMurray Rd. near the Dunkin Donuts. This is historically a great fundraiser for us. Please sign up to help here: https://usccrosscountry.com/volunteer/
8. Coaches will begin phasing in the SportsYou app for communications. This is to replace Remind. Athletes and parents should both sign up. Instructions are here: https://usccrosscountry.com/sportsyou-instructions/
9. Both girls and boys have a new dedicated locker room space that is theirs exclusively during the season: Girls are in Small Gym #1 (room 427) and Boys in Old Pool #2 (room 423- entrance is on back athletic hallway that runs from cafeteria down to large gym. Students will each have their own locker, encouraged to bring their own lock. Locker rooms will be opened in the morning by security and athletes may place their items in the lockers.  The room will be locked during the day and opened at the end of the day or when team is dismissed for a meet.  Boosters are looking into locker signs for each athlete.  XC athletes should not go into other team locker rooms. 
10. Freshmen and juniors need concussion baseline testing if not already done. Please contact the trainers with questions.
11. Please see the minutes link for additional information about the season! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e9Qp4hAxHr-R5cSm9MeTZZgtxNhfFED-BPUeCiDVVYs/edit?usp=sharing

We can’t wait to see everyone in our runner fam. 

 It’s going to be a great season! Welcome to all our new runners this year 

It’s imperative that at least one parent per athlete be subscribed to the blog- that’s the only way you will know what’s going on! Athletes may subscribe optionally as per your family’s judgement. If you are a new subscriber, please check the recent few posts as well. Take 5 seconds to click to the home page and subscribe.

By now all Healthy Roster forms should be turned in and trainers will be generating a list of who is approved for first day of practice.   You can also check Healthy Roster. If everything is listed under “Athlete Documents” you are probably good to go.  If anything is listed under Documents Awaiting Review, those haven’t been approved yet.  If anything is listed under Missing Documents, you need to take action.  Sometimes it’s a simple signature- the Consent to Treat is one commonly missed.  

First day is Monday 8/14, 8:30 AM at the starting line of the HS track! Please make sure that you check out the coaches calendar at this link and check all the times for the first couple of weeks especially– there’s changes in time for different days! https://usccrosscountry.com/calendar/

Coaches can be contacted at dpetrick@uscsd.k12.pa.usor mchermak@uscsd.k12.pa.uswith any questions about practice

The captains have planned outfit themes for each day of the first week of practice! 

Monday 8/14: USA/Red White and Blue 

Tuesday 8/15: Neon

Wednesday 8/16: Hawaiian/Beach (also captains breakfast for whole team after practice at location TBD)

Thursday 8/17: Twinning

Friday 8/18: USC spirit 

Runners can reach the captains at @trackrunnersdaily on Instagram if any questions or to get added to the group chat 

Don’t forget the pool party/booster meeting! 

Thursday, August 17 at 7:00 PM (may arrive at 6:45 for check-in) at Montclair Neighborhood Pool- 1217 Sherbrook Dr. (at the end of the street). If parking lot is full, please park on one side of Sherbrook Dr. only, so we don’t get a visit from our friendly local police!

We will go over the whole season, additional events such as pasta parties, senior rec, fundraisers, volunteer opportunities, and more.  Coaches will cover training, team expectations, policies, etc.  We do ask that one parent from each family attend.  During the meeting athletes can swim and socialize.  

Each student should bring items to the booster meeting/pool party  as follows:

Seniors: 1 pizza 
Jrs: dessert, side dish, or snack – if snack, prefer individually packaged so any leftovers can be repurposed for meet snacks
Soph: 8-12 Gatorades
Freshmen: case of water bottles (24-36) 

Dues are $80 per athlete and can be paid through Zelle (encouraged if possible) https://usccrosscountry.com/join-the-boosters/ Or a check can be made payable to USCHSXC and brought to the pool party, or mailed to 

Howie Ginsburg, 2433 Kings La, USC, 15241

And put 8/26 on your calendar for our annual car wash fundraiser and check out the All Events calendar under the Calendar tab at the website. 

If your athlete needs spikes (or other running shoes) Fleet Feet is having their Spike Day this Saturday. Always great service!

Please get all Healthy Roster documents in ASAP!

If you are having trouble, send us an email or reach out to the trainers.

https://uscsdathletics.com/main/teamnews/id/3804847

Welcome to August! We can’t wait to see our wonderful cross country families soon!

Official practice kicks off at 8:30 AM on Monday 8/14. See the full practice calendar here: https://usccrosscountry.com/calendar/

Between now and then, no organized practice.  Students should keep running on their own, or setting something up with a friend is encouraged! New runners can connect with teammates on Instagram @trackrunnersdaily

Please mark your calendars for the athlete pool party/parent booster meeting:

Thursday, August 17 at 7:00 PM (may arrive at 6:45 for check-in) at Montclair Neighborhood Pool- 1217 Sherbrook Dr. (at the end of the street). If parking lot is full, please park on one side of Sherbrook Dr. only, so we don’t get a visit from our friendly local police! 

We will go over the whole season, additional events such as pasta parties, senior rec, fundraisers, volunteer opportunities, and more.  Coaches will cover training, team expectations, policies, etc.  We do ask that one parent from each family attend.  During the meeting athletes can swim and socialize.  

Each student should bring items to the pool party as follows:

Seniors: 1 pizza

Jrs: dessert, side dish, or snack- if snack, prefer individually packaged so any leftovers can be repurposed for meet snacks

Soph: 8-12 Gatorades

Freshmen: case of water bottles (24-36)

Dues are $80 per athlete and can be paid through Zelle (encouraged if possible) https://usccrosscountry.com/join-the-boosters/ Or a check can be made payable to USCHSXC and brought to the pool party, or mailed to Howie Ginsburg, 2433 Kings La, USC, 15241

Official practice will be upon us, so please review the previous blog post and get the Healthy Roster and Booster registration done ASAP!  I don’t want to send nagging emails, despite how good my kids tell me I am at nagging 😀 Thanks to those of you who have already done this! 

There are two parts to athlete registration! These two parts can be done in either order, but we encourage you to do both as soon as possible. 

1. Athletes need to be registered through the boosters so we can plan great things for all the athletes.  NEW THIS YEAR: EVERY ATHLETE, EVEN THOSE RETURNING, NEEDS TO BE REGISTERED THROUGH THIS STEP.  https://usccrosscountry.com/booster-registration/ We promise this is quick and easy– it will only take a moment but it’s important for everyone to do, so we can maintain our roster in an easier way, have correct contact information, and get athlete T-shirt sizes.  Even if you are not 100% certain if your child is going to continue with cross country, please complete this step now to continue getting information for the time being.  ***After you complete this step, you will be automatically redirected to the dues payment page.  Dues are staying at $80 per athlete this year.  If you want to take care of everything at the same time, go ahead and send payment by using the QR code or just opening Zelle in your banking app.  If for whatever reason you aren’t ready to pay dues yet, it’s fine to just exit out for now and go to the payments tab later whenever you are ready.  
2. Also, athletes must be registered with the school district through Healthy Roster in advance of the first day of practice! We highly encourage you to complete this by August 4.  You can use the app on your phone, or the desktop version at dashboard.healthyroster.com. Athletic trainers will approve athletes through this process.  Please contact the trainers with questions.  If you’re having trouble with the site, feel free to message us as well- it’s not the most user-friendly for parents and does take 15-20 minutes.  There’s also a fee associated with the athletic department; this is a separate step and more information about this will be available later.

Don’t forget, boosters will be providing ice cream to all athletes after practice at Tandem this Wednesday 7/26!

First day of practice is August 14! Coaches have updated the Google calendar found here https://usccrosscountry.com/calendar/

with all practice times for August.  These are mandatory practices. Please review carefully as there are different times on different days due to the school schedule.  A screenshot is also attached. 

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer runs.  A few items to note:

1. Coaches report that the turnout at the summer practices has been impressive and is providing a lot of excitement as we get closer to the start of the season!  
2. The weather has been very cooperative to date, but in the event of bad weather that would cause us to cancel a summer practice the following steps will be taken on our end to communicate a cancellation: Coach Petrick or Coach Chermak will make the decision 30 minutes prior to the start time and at that point, we will send an email to both the Athletics office and the Boosters so both websites can post the announcement.  We will also post the message on the following Google Doc Link 2023 CROSS COUNTRY FALL INFO & ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM COACHES.  So please check the websites (Athletics and Boosters) and feel free to check the link above as well. Also, use your best judgment, we will run in the rain but not in thunder or the threat of lightning.  Coaches anticipate having another communication app approved in the next few weeks, but this is not in place yet- stay tuned!
3. Wednesday July 19, the owners of the Tandem bike shop are hosting a small informal 5K which will occur during our practice time.  If any athlete would like to test their training and enter the 5K, they are welcome to do so.  However please do not feel any obligation to do so, there is no expectation on coaches’ end that you compete in the race.  Coaches will hold typical practice for anyone planning on coming and not competing in the 5K.  The final Tandem race is held August 9 which runners may feel free to participate if they wish. See details below.
4. Speaking of ice cream, the boosters will treat all runners to ice cream at Tandem following the July 26 practice, to celebrate all their summer running!
5. If you have not already, please update your information in Healthy Roster, coaches cannot allow anyone to practice who is not cleared through the athletics office by August 14.  Please try to submit all forms no later than Friday August 4. If paperwork is not submitted until the 13th or 14th, there is a strong chance you will not be cleared in time for the first practice.  Healthy Roster is open for athlete registration.  All athletes must have a physical signed no earlier than June 1.  Log in at dashboard.healthyroster.com or links are also on the booster website. 
6. Don’t forget to put the start of mandatory practice (August 14) and pool party/booster meeting (August 17) on your calendar!

These runs starting today July 4 are optional but encouraged!

Tuesdays 9:45 AM-10:30 AM at Al’s Cafe/Rite Aid Montour Trail Entrance (parking available at the Elementary School which sits behind the Rite Aid (Washington Elementary School, 515 Clifton Rd, Bethel Park, PA 15102):

July 4,11,18,25

Wednesdays at 6:30 PM-7:15 PM at Tandem Bike Shop Montour Trail Entrance (Tandem Connection Bike Shop, 5 Georgetown Rd., Hendersonville, PA):

July 5, 12, 19, 26

Thursdays 9:45 AM-10:30 AM at Al’s Cafe/Rite Aid Montour Trail Entrance (parking available at the Elementary School which sits behind the Rite Aid (Washington Elementary School, 515 Clifton Rd, Bethel Park, PA 15102):

July 6, 13, 20, 27