A high school state cross country meet is like a big family reunion.
Tents and flags from the various schools are set up around the course as runners mill around and chat with competitors before races. Coaches get a chance to catch up with their peers — who are often their good friends — to discuss the season and what they expect results to look like. Spectators find a spot to cheer at the landmark of their choosing, usually a spot along the final stretch.
And the awards ceremonies are the highlight, with plenty of screaming high schoolers and new state champions being crowned.
COVID-19 has wiped out all that camaraderie.
On Saturday, New Hampshire and Vermont will each stage their respective state championships. Tents and flags will be nowhere to be found, spectators won’t be allowed entry and medals will be handed out on school buses when teams head home.
“Whenever I think of the state meet, it’s just a flood of memories,” said Thetford Academy coach Joe Deffner, who will be on the sideline for his 18th state championship meet on Saturday. “I think about past events, kids I’ve coached, spectators. And it is a nice chance to reconnect with coaches since there isn’t much turnover in the cross country ranks. It’s just not the same like everything else these days.”
The NHIAA will host its championship at Derryfield Park in Manchester. The course, with its zigzag finish, will feature three divisional races spread across the entire day. Each division will have a required time to arrive and leave the park. Any teams that show up before their set time will be asked to wait on their buses.
Runners will be allowed to compete without a mask on but are required to wear a face covering at all other times. Two medical tents will be on site — one for any injury needs and another to hold any runners who develop COVID-19 symptoms.
Perhaps the biggest struggle Saturday at Derryfield will be enforcing the no-spectator policy. The park is in the middle of Manchester and open to the public, so barring access could be difficult. The course also runs up into the woods behind McIntyre Ski Area, where there are other trails the public can access.
The NHIAA is offering a free, nine-camera live stream at newhampshirecrosscountry.com in the hope people will opt to stay home for a warmer watching experience.
“What we did do is send out to all the schools that we will not allow spectators and we reserve the right to shut down the event if there was any problems,” NHIAA assistant director David Rozumek said. “The difficult part is it’s a public place and there is no way to really control who comes.”
Rick Berryman is the owner of Lancer Timing Services, which specializes in high school and collegiate running timing services. Berryman is operating Saturday’s race at Derryfield and has arranged each race into four waves.
Schools will be grouped six feet apart at the starting line, then on the opening gun two runners per school will be allowed to start. A new wave will go every 15 seconds.
Berryman said the technology he uses automatically calculates the time difference when runners finish, thanks to a chip on the back of athletes’ bib. He has used the technology in the 10 Division I races he’s timed this season.
“It’s a fair amount of work beforehand with the numbering,” he said in a phone interview on Thursday.
At the VPA championships at Thetford’s Woods Trail, runners will be allowed to run without a mask on. Cross country is the only sport in Vermont this fall that has competed without a face covering.
TA athletic director Blendon Salls will help oversee the three-division event. The competition won’t be run in waves like New Hampshire, but each team will start together and have at least three feet of space in between each other at the start. The big change from the past will splitting up the day by divisions and not gender, so teams can come and go in a timely manner.
He’ll have to worry about fewer runners than New Hampshire since the Vermont field is smaller.
Upper Valley Community Access television is streaming all the races, and Salls is hopeful he can keep spectators away since the race is held on school grounds.
“We are asking coaches to meet their runners at the finish line and hand out masks,” he said. “We’re telling kids to wear masks around their wrists while they’re running so they can mask up as soon as possible. It’s just the flow of keeping groups of less than 150 on sections of our campus.”
Notes: Hartford and Woodstock will be competing in D-II at 10 a.m. … Rivendell, Thetford, White River Valley and Windsor will run at 2 p.m. in D-III. … Hanover and Lebanon are slated to run in the NHIAA D-II race at 12:15 p.m. … Newport and Mascoma will be going at 3:30 p.m. for the NHIAA D-III title.
Pete Nakos can be reached at pnakos@vnews.com.