Coaches, ADs, and Principals,
Hi, my name is Tommy Maguire and I’m the head cross-country coach at Cave Spring High School in Roanoke, Virginia. I know that many cross-country coaches and athletic directors have started to plan for the fall cross-country season. I would like to take a moment to invite you and your team to participate in the 19th Annual “Knights Crossing” cross-country invitational on Saturday September 9th in beautiful Green Hill Park in Roanoke County.
* Fall of 2022 invitational included 90+ high schools, 60+ middle schools, and 8 elementary schools. There were over 2,100 runners participating with 10 out of state teams racing.
* Fall of 2022 race included 39 girls with personal bests faster than 20 minutes for the 5k. 13 of those girls broke 19 minutes. There were also 59 boys with personal bests faster than 17 minutes with 16 under 16 minutes. There was also a new course record set by Conner Rutherford of Blacksburg in 15:08.
Our #1 goal with Knights Crossing is to provide a fun atmosphere where runners can race on a fast course and get an early season PR. We pride ourselves with running a professional and entertaining invitational. It is an opportunity for out-state, in-state, and local runners to showcase their early season talents in a large invitational atmosphere.
This year we will continue to make improvements that we feel will help runners, coaches, and spectators have a more enjoyable experience.
1.) Five years ago, for the first time in 16 years we made major changes to the course. We will be working with Roanoke County Parks and Rec to continue to improve the new course design. The new racecourses are posted on knightsrunning.com under the Knights Crossing tab. Also, on knightscrossing.com we have drone video footage of the entire course.
2.) Due to the course being changed there is now even more parking available in the front of the park. Also, the single lane road that has been used in the past as our entrance and exit to the park has become a double lane. We got reports from Roanoke County Parks and Rec along with the police officers controlling traffic that these improvements helped the flow of traffic in and out of Green Hill Park last fall.
3.) Last year we purchased a better sound system and will announcing race updates to provide for a more exciting atmosphere. There will also race clocks provided at the 800m, 1 mile, 2 mile, 4k, and 150 meters to go.
4.) We will once again be using IPICO chip timing provided by Laurence Loesel and Snap Timing. 1- and 2-mile splits will also be provided.
5.) Please see attachment for additional information on this year’s Knights Crossing Cross-Country Invitational. I am in the process of updating all information on our website: http://www.knightsrunning.com/ Look under “Knights Crossing”.
6.) In the FALL of 2023 Green Hill Park (Cave Spring High School) will once again host the class 1A, 2A, & 3A VHSL State Championships. "Knights Crossing XC Invitational" will serve as the official preview meet. Knights Crossing 5k course is the same as the state meet.
7.) If you and your team are interested in attending, please send me an email ASAP so I can add you to our list. If you did not attend our meet in the fall of 2022, I will also need the following information for the NFHS (National Federation High School) sanctioning process. Each coach please send me the following information.
- school's name, address, city, zip code, phone number, coach's name, & school type. For example: (high school, middle school, or club)
** Once I get an email from you, I will send you the password to enter. **
We hope to see you all on September 9th. Please contact me if you have any questions.
Good luck with the rest of your indoor & outdoor track season!