Cross Country

Welcome to Woodward Cross Country!  Cross country  (abbreviated XC) is an ideal youth sport because it is one of the most inclusive sports that offers unique benefits for both physical and personal development. It embraces runners of all skill levels and combines physical fitness with mental toughness, which promotes resilience, discipline, and a healthy lifestyle.  Unlike cut-sports, everyone participates regardless of their fitness level or experience. Rather than focusing solely on winning and direct competition with others, our program emphasizes individual improvement, whether it’s running a personal best or finishing a race without walking.  To foster a lifelong joy of fitness, we also emphasize having fun by incorporating games into some of our workouts. Although, in many respects, running is an individual sport, cross country is also a team sport.  Athletes are encouraged to support one another (both at practices and meets), thereby building community through a supportive team environment that promotes strong, positive social connections. We are really excited about the upcoming season and look forward to working with your young athletes!

Check this page regularly for schedule updates, course maps, and important announcements. 

Announcements

• There will be an informational meeting for parents and athletes on March 8^th  (Time TBD) at the Woodward Library.  We encourage all parents to attend even if their kids have done cross country before.
• The season begins on 3/15/27
• Practices will run daily. Monday practices will be held at Battle Point Park from 4:00-5:00pm , with the exception of the first practice. Tuesday-Friday practices and the first practice  will be held at the Woodward Track from 3:45-5:00pm.
• Race jerseys will be provided to all athletes. If you are interested in ordering optional team gear (t-shirt and/or sweatshirt), a link will be provided here once a design has been chosen.  The team gear will be delivered to Woodward and will be distributed to your athletes at practice.
• To access meet results visit the Woodward team page on Athletic.net.  Keep in mind that race results are not automatically posted.  The meet hosts are responsible for posting results.  Some hosts will have the results posted immediately, others may take a few days before they post results.  Please be patient. 

FAQs

• Who Can Participate in Cross Country? Cross Country is a competitive team sport that is open for all students in grades 7 and 8 in the Bainbridge Island School District and affiliated schools (Hyla, Odyssey, home school, etc.). A great thing about cross country is that everyone competes! Everyone runs the same course, and although the first 7 runners to finish are considered the scoring team, at every meet ALL eligible athletes get to participate. There are no cuts, and no bench to sit on and watch while others play!
• How do I Register? To register your athlete, follow the step-by-step instructions below.  NOTE: you will need to register in Final Forms for each sport your child participates in.
  1. From the Woodward Middle School website menu; select Activities > Athletics > Registration > Registration and Fees
  2. From there, click on the FinalForms link on Step 1 of that page (for detailed Final Forms instructions click How to Use Final Forms).
  3. Use the Parent Login to login or create a new account if you do not have one. 
  4. A student is resgistered and elibible to participate only after the following tasks have been completed:
     • Register via FinalForms
     • Upload your athlete’s Medical Eligibility Form signed by your child’s doctor
     • Pay Participation Fee (this can be done online using the Online Payment Site  or by cash/check at the front office)
• What is the Schedule? Cross Country is offered in the spring (March 15 - May 28). Practices are held daily (M-F). All Monday practices will be at Battle Point Park from 4:00-5:00PM (except for the first practice, 3/15) ; All other practices (Tuesday-Friday, and the first practice) will be held at the WMS Track from 3:45-5:00PM. 

Once the competitive season begins, we generally race on Wednesdays. Middle school athletes race a variety of distances. However, most of our races will be 2.0 miles. The courses mostly run across grassy fields, wooded paths, some asphalt,  and have a mixture of hills and flat ground. Some courses may include creek crossings and log jumps to make it interesting! The tentative race (meet) schedule for the 2026-2027 Season will be posted below as soon as we receive confirmation of the finalized schedule:

• 1 Mile Jamboree (Fun run):
• 1 Mile Race:
• 1.5 Mile Race:
• 1.5 Mile Race:
• 2 Mile Race:
• 2 Mile Race:
• 2 Mile JV and Varsity Championship Meet**:

      ** NOTE: JV & Varsity Championships will be either held on the same day and at the same venue or will be help separately on different days and venues.

• Can I Participate if I am a Multi-Sport Athlete? Cross country (XC) attracts driven and talented people. Because of this, many of our athletes participate in more than one sport. I strongly believe that participating in multiple sports is beneficial to all middle school athletes. To help facilitate this, we encourage athletes to join XC even if they are actively participating in another sport. However, for the health/safety of the athlete and the cohesiveness of our team, an athlete must be able to commit to the minimum requirements below.

As a multi-sport athlete in XC, you are committing to . . .

• Participating in the whole season from March 15 to May 27.

• Attending practices a minimum of 3 days a week (preferably, M, W, F).

• Prioritize staying healthy and injury free by NOT overtraining and taking at least one complete rest day (no sports activity) per week!

• Participating in 7 practices at the beginning of the season to be cleared to race.

• Participating in eligible XC meets (usually Wednesdays).

• Prioritizing the Championship race(s) over your other sport and tapering (gradually reducing the amount of athletic activity) the week before the Championship.

• Filling out the Multi-sport Athlete Form