A rundown of events from this weekend from Coach Hudson

On August 27, 21 teams from around the state poured into the paring lot of Our Lady of Mercy for the 3rd annual Mercy Invitational. Competing schools included public and private ranging from A to AAAA. Going into the meet returning and new teams were optimistic. As Eagles Landing

It was just a scrimmage. One team

Sophomore Brigithe Moreno might be the number one runner on the perenial state powerhouse team at Plant High School, but most of the time she\'s working out solo, meeting up with her teammates only during meets.

As long as I\'ve been coaching, the Berry meet...uh...Clara Bowl Invitational, has held a special place in the hearts of many running fans in the state. For some, this will be their first experience with a big meet atmosphere. As a coach, the anticipation of seeing how the puppies handle the pressure always causes moments of anxiety but one thing is certain, the spectacle of the meet at Berry College is an experience that most will not soon forget.

This year, O\'Hara is the favorite to win the league title. Prendie returns all of their varsity as well. St Hubert\'s returns most of their top runners. And only one of the top 25 from the PCL champs a year ago has graduated.

\"I miss STEAK!!! A really medium-rare bloody steak! You would have to pay an arm and a leg over here to get a good piece of RED MEAT!!! Yes, I am totally a meat-eater (sorry Karen you veggie girl). I really have it in my head that it gives me a lot of strength to run.\"

We\'ve added free webpages for you and your team. Complete control of posting your schedule, updating your athletes, entering news items for your team, posting practice schedules and even giving each athlete on your team that meets the cut off standard a page of their own with a graphical look at thier season. Eventually, we hope to be able to add even more information to the athlete pages for college coaches to peruse and it\'s all free. So what\'s the catch?

August 25

The cross country season was unofficially kicked off today for many teams in Florida. Many in the Greater Orlando Metro area continued the tradition of starting their seasons off at the Lake Mary Jamboree. We were there and have posted almost 300 photos from this morning\'s high school races.

Beginning August 22nd, Switzerland and much of Europe experienced devastating floods. Switzerland was not spared.

In the 2005 boys

After bringing home the NAIA Men

It went fast, didn\'t it. Just three short years ago, the Miller twins burst onto the scene at the Gettysburg Invitational. They surprised Ryan Blood that day, along with everyone not from Manheim Township. Now entering their final XC campaign, they have the team to go with that front running talent. But wait, there\'s a group of talented juniors from Coatesville who just missed another state championship in 2004, bolstered by a transfer. And they meet at Carlisle 9/24, just over a month before the one that really counts. Hang on...

Our Lady of Lourdes Academy coach talks about his foundation of a cross country dynasty. The team has won five of the last seven FHSAA cross-country championships in its class.

Here are the rankings that have been emailed to me from the FACA appointed pollsters. All girls rankings have now been posted, still waiting to receive boys rankings.

To get a grasp of the dominance of the Tampa Jesuit cross country picture the New England Patriots going into a big game using nothing but the second string. Picture North Carolina going into March Madness using only is junior varsity.

If there ever was a pick-em season, this is it both from a team and individual standpoint. As Strath Haven coach Bill Coren points out, 12 of the top 16 returning teams have four or more of their top six runners back, and two, Cumberland Valley and Hazleton return all of their top siix. And more than 80% of the top 32 individuals are back. There will be early indications on how the season will go, but States looks to be more of a nailbiter than usual.

It

For the first time in a long time, there will be no Christiansen from Greenville in a AA race. Jed graduated, and Jake and family moved to new Hampshire, where they made some noise this summer on the roads. But that just gives more opportunity for a talented set of rising juniors and seniors who ran very well in both XC and track, thank you. It\'s a toss-up. But in the team race, Scranton Prep will be back on top again, only losing one scorer from their 2004 title team.

Just to let you know that the Cross Country season gets started in earnest this weekend - yes August 27 (!) with at least 4 invitationals. Most of the major programs will be in action. Temperatures have been in the mid-90\'s with heat indices over 100 but thankfully, it\'s supposed to cool off to the low 80\'s by the weekend (slightly better :-).

The defending champs from 2004 -- St. Basil Academy for the team, and Rachel Erny for the individual title, will have strong challenges before they successfully repeat in 2005.

Aaron Rich\'s annual preview of the PA cross country season kicks off Monday with AA Girls, followed on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday by AA Boys, AAA Girls, and AAA Boys. Individual and team predictions are included in each day\'s article.

For nearly three years, Caleb Vogt stood so close to that elusive state title, so close he could taste it until another injury came up. Finally last spring, he got to feel the championship tape!

12 photographs are now online for viewing from packet pickup and the free triathlon clinic that took place Friday night at the Tri-to-Cure event, held on Furman University\'s campus. The event takes place Saturday.

NORMAN, Okla.

Alumni of Spartanburg High School\'s cross country team gathered for the annual alumni meet on Aug. 5.

Cypress Bay

In the Nike Team Nationals pre-season regional rankings released on August 8th, two boys\' teams and three girls\' teams found themselves ranked among the top ten in the Southeast region with defending Group AAA state champion Thomas Jefferson boys sitting at the number one spot in the region as they return four of their top five from last year\'s squad that finished the season ranked third in the region.

Less than a week after launching our Team Administration capabilities, more than two dozen PA coaches have signed on... with quite a few already adding dual meets, schedules, rosters and more. Check out the ones who have been most active to date.

The cross country season is approaching soon with many high school teams already starting official practices while college athletes returning to their respective schools in the next week or so. MileStat.com is ready to go for another season of site coverage with many articles, photo galleries, interviews, rankings, and features to come. Expect in-depth preview articles (the automatically generated \"previews\" of teams with the most sub 17 boys and sub 21 girls does not really count as a true preview for this season) for the cross country season to come later this month for both the high school and college ranks in the state.

Today Oklahoma was added as the 15th state on the MileSplit Network, as OKTrackXC.com was launched. The site\'s webmaster, Matt Aguero, is very excited about the site\'s launch, which is just in time for cross country season.

After running cross country all through her freshman season at Altamonte Springs Lake Brantley, Amanda Hintze had had enough of running. After taking a year off, her love for the sport was renewed and she has come back with more appreciation for the sport and running faster than ever!

Looking to get published? GATFXC.com is looking for interested parties to help expand coverage to all areas of the state in order to provide more coverage for the athletes of Georgia. Students working on a school newspaper, local reporters or just someone who recognizes a good story...we are looking for the following:

After much debate, we will attempt to continue the team rankings list from years past. In order to complete this task, we need volunteers from the coaching community to make it happen.

For the fifth year in a row a pair of kids named Hensley enter the cross country season as Lincoln Park Academy\'s top two runners. After promising track seasons for each, the fall outlook is looking bright for the pair and for LPA.

In the pre-seaon Nike Team Nationals (NTN) poll released this week, three Pennsylvania teams have cracked the top ten in the Northeast. Congrats to Manheim Township\'s and Coatesville\'s boys, and the Allentown Central Catholic girls.

PA ahletes born 1987 or later who meet 2004 World Junior standards as of August 7, 2005, hoping to go to the 2006 World Junior Championships in Beijing, China.

Competing as a freshman for the final time before she moves into the 10th grade, Methacton star Ryann Krais showed the rest of the US the future of the sprint hurdles for the next three years. But that was just the beginning. And Allyn Laughlin uncorked a great Shot to take 2nd. Jermaine Lowery, Alex Holcombe star for PA boys. More...

Jenny Barringer would have loved to talk about winning her sixth state championship last fall, except it wasn

Jackie Areson has been one of the very best Florida prep distance runners of this decade, but her achievements have often been partially obscured by the other half of PJP\'s extrordinary one-two punch, Wake Forest University-bound Nicole Schappert. For her senior season, Jackie steps on to the turf wearing new colors and as a solo act sure to be the one casting shadows.

Arizona State-bound Ryan Whiting, who graduated from Central Dauphin HS, was named the USATF Athlete of the Week after winning two golds at the Pan-Am Junior Championships last weekend in Windsor, Ontario.

Chichester\'s Carrington Queen capped an incredible junior season with a natiional title in his specialty, the 110 Hurdles. The Intermediate Girls from PA made some waves, as the United Stars 4x400, Lavaughn Jones, and Brieanna Kennedy performed very well. In Young Women\'s action, Breehana Jacobs (Laurel Highlands), and Oakland Catholic\'s Charelise Davis (River City Elite) were in the 100 Finals. And Juan Cave ended his prep career.