Top high schools on east coast to square off in Maymont X-Country Festival this weekend Sports Backers Press Release Sep 21, 2010

With the high school team entry period now closed, it is clear that the September 24-25 Maymont X-Country Festival is once again a must-do meet for many of the country’s most competitive programs. Over 260 teams representing almost 90 schools from 16 states and the District of Columbia have registered over 2,200 runners. The highlight of the high school meet is the Girls and Boys Invitational races on Saturday morning. In the Girls’ Invitational at 10:10 a.m. Tatnall HS from Delaware (#10-ranked team in United States) headlines a field that includes three additional teams ranked in the top 25 nationally and as the top team in their states. Those teams are #20 Green Hope HS in North Carolina, #22 North Gwinnett HS in Georgia, and #24 Blacksburg HS in Virginia. There are also many other teams that are rated among the top in their state including Preston HS (#1-ranked in West Virginia), Bolles HS (#1-ranked AA team in Florida), and Baylor HS (#2-ranked team in Tennessee).

Invitational Field at U.S. Army X-Country Festival at Maymont Stronger than Ever Sports Backers Press Release Aug 17, 2009

The invitational division for the 2009 U.S. Army X-Country Festival at Maymont is shaping up to be the most competitive field to date for the meet in Richmond, VA.  There are currently ten schools that placed in the Top 10 of their respective state meets last year, including three Division 2 Champions, running at Maymont on September 26th. Note: A reminder that the deadline for Maymont is on September 6th.

Richmond Sports Backers Press Release Oct 16, 2008

Having traveled all over the country for cross country competitions, Susannah Piersol might just win a junior national championships in her backyard.

At the 2008 USA Track & Field National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships set for December 13, 2008 at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Virginia, more than 3,000 athletes from across the United States will be vying for a shot at the title of cross country All-American and junior national champion. Piersol, who was second in her age group last year, will be one of them.

“Personally, I think it’s really neat to have competed on a national level,” says Piersol, a 17-year-old senior at Maggie Walker Governor’s School. “You get so nervous, but it’s a good nervous because you can just let it out in your run. And I think the intensity is good prep for college racing.”

Already an all-American cross country runner thanks her second place last year (the top 25 runners in the JOXC earn all-American status,) Piersol is grateful that such an important event falls in familiar territory. “I’m going to have fun on my home course,” says Piersol, “and still remember that it’s the national so I want to do my best.”

Last year’s competition in Lawrence, Kansas attracted athletes from around the country who had progressed through USATF’s Junior Olympic Cross Country Program. The series of competitions is made up of Association Championships in USATF’s 57 local Associations, 15 Regional Championships, and ultimately the National Championships where the “best of the best” take the stage. Competition takes place in five two-year age divisions, from ages 10 & under to age 18.

Note: MileStat.com is helping organize an All-Star club team of Richmond area athletes for the high school age groups to compete for the Richmond Track & Field Club and race for USATF Junior Olympic national team titles at Pole Green Park on December 13th. If interested in competing on this team, contact Brandon Miles at milestat@gmail.com

McDonald Sports Backers Press Release Sep 07, 2007

Team registration for the 5th annual McDonald’s X-Country Festival at Maymont, which has quickly become one of the top high school meets in the country, is scheduled to close at 5 p.m. on Sunday, September 9.  Registration is available at www.directathletics.com and meet information can be found at www.sportsbackers.org.   The meet will once again boast a high quality field featuring top schools from Virginia and throughout the mid-Atlantic and southeast. In 2006 high school meet director Dan Ward has made the recruitment of top teams a priority and has succeeded in turning the McDonald’s X-Country Festival at Maymont into a must-do event for the country’s top teams.

Pole Green Park chosen to host 2008 USA Track & Field Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships Sports Backers Press Release Dec 18, 2006

USA Track & Field (USATF) has awarded its 2008 Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships to Hanover County, it has been announced. The event, to be held on December 13, 2008 at Pole Green Park, was awarded on the strength of a bid presented by the Sports Backers, Richmond Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Virginia Association of USA Track & Field.

McDonald Sports Backers Press Release Sep 27, 2006

Featuring no fewer than 13 teams that have been ranked among the top 10 high school cross country teams in the Southeast so far this season, this weekend

Strong Invitational Field Highlights U.S Army X-Country Festival at Maymont Sports Backers Press Release Dec 31, 1969

With the high school team entry period now closed, it is clear that the September 25-26, 2009 U.S. Army X-Country Festival at Maymont is once again a must-do meet for many of the country’s most competitive programs.  “This is as good an invitational field as we’ve ever had, and that’s saying a lot,” meet director Dan Ward says.  “This is the strongest multi-state cross country field in the U.S. to date this year.” Over two hundred and fifty teams representing almost 90 schools from 12 states and the District of Columbia have registered over 2,300 runners.

Record Entries, Strongest Southeast Field Ever at Maymont Sports Backers Press Release Dec 31, 1969


Photo by John Herzog

With one of the strongest high school cross country fields in the Southeast region year in and year out, the McDonald’s X-country Festival at Maymont will once again deliver a top-notch event to its top-notch competitors this weekend in Richmond.

“I would say it was stronger than last year,” says event director Dan Ward. “And last year it was one of the top meets in the Southeast. We have schools from 10 states and the District of Columbia. They’re coming from as far south as Georgia, as far north as New York and as far west as Colorado.”

Ward points out that the McDonald’s X-country Festival at Maymont, which has signed up 125 teams with over 2,865 runners, an all-time record, will have more Nike ranked and bubble teams at the national, regional and state level than any other meet in the Southeast. Read on for full story...