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 running is an individual sport in many respects, 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 about cross country on March 9^th at 6pm at the Woodward Library (please note location change). We will have signs directing you to the library once you enter Woodward.  I strongly encourage ALL parents to attend, whether your athlete has already registered for cross country or is just considering joining the team.  If you cannot make the meeting, I will post the presentation slides here AFTER the meeting.
• The season begins on 3/16/26
• Practices will run daily Monday-Friday from 3:45 - 5:00 pm.
• 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 deadline to order the optional gear is April 3rd, before noon.  The 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? The Sport of 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:
  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.  NOTE: You will need to register in FinalForms for each sport your child participates in.
  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 or at the front office)
• What is the Schedule? Cross Country is offered in the spring (March 16 - May 28). Practices are held M-F from 3:45-5:00 PM. All Monday practices will be at Battle Point Park (except for the first practice, 3/16); All other practices (Tuesday-Friday, and the first practice) will be held at the WMS Track. 

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! Below is the tentative race (meet) schedule for the 2025-2026 Season:

• 1 Mile Jamboree  at Kingston Middle School (Date TBD)
• 1 Mile Race: Wed, April 22 at Kingston Middle School
• 1.5 Mile Race: Wed, April 29 at Fairview Middle School 
• 1.5 Mile Race: Wed, May 6 at Mountain View Middle School
• 2 Mile Race: Wed, May 13 at Battle Point Park (Home Meet)
• 2 Mile Race: Wed, May 20 at Cedar Heights Middle School (South Kitsap)
• 2 Mile Futurist Meet (JV Championship): Tues, May 26, Kingston Middle School **
• 2 Mile  Championship (Varsity Team): Thurs, May 28, Battle Point Park (Home Meet) **

      ** The Futurist & Championship Meets may be combined and run on the same date.**

• 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 16 to May 28.

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

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

• Participating in all eligible XC meets (usually Wednesdays) in the appropriate race.

• Tapering the week before and racing in one of the Championship races.