Armory Featured Meets
XC 2005
Armory Featured Cross Country Meets
What does it mean to be a featured meet? Basically, extra coverage with race pics and results, as well as stories leading into some of them. This year we will cover some local college meets as well as the usual HS meets.
10/16 Update: While armorytrack.com would have liked to provide better coverage of some of these meets, the duties became too much to handle. We will be on hand at most of the remaining meets, including the Heps, NYS Champs and Fed Champs, as well as Footlocker Northeast. We ask that if anyone has pics they can send us from these meets to please send them to results@armorytrack.com
ABOVE: Fayetteville-Manlius shattered meet and course record for the fastest 5-man average at VCP last year at the Manhattan Invit.
Photo by Greg Armstrong
9/10 - Fordham Invitational (COL)
A college meet that kicks off the season at the storied Van Cortland Park.
9/17 - Big Red Invitational (HS)
A fairly new downstate invitational on one of Westchester County's best XC courses.
9/24 - Queensbury Invit (HS)
The site of the NYS Championships, many of the top teams in NYS will be making the trip to get a feel for the course.
9/24 - Iona Meet of Champions (COL)
Usually a season highlight for many eastern colleges who make the trip to run at the historic Van Cortland Park.
9/30 - Metropolitan Championships (COL)
Teams like Iona, Columbia, Rutgers, Manhattan compete for local bragging rights at VCP.
10/01 - St. Anthony's Invitational (HS)
At historic Sunken Meadow State Park, top HS teams gather to run the old 2.5 mile course and see where they measure up with the old time greats.
10/08- Manhattan Invit (HS)
One of "The biggest and the best" HS XC invitationals in the country and run on the historic VVan Cortland Park. If you want to see where you measure up nationally, all time, or even just against your local rival, this is the place to be the 2nd Saturday of October every year. This year, with the addition of added meet management from the Armory Track and Field Center, as well as sponsorship from New Balance, the meet should be even better.
10/15 - Boys Eastern States (HS)
A meet that harkens back to the glory days of distance running in the tr-state area, this is still a spot to run at the historic Van Cortland Park as well as face some of the Metropolitan areas best teams.
10/28 - Heptagonal Champs (COL)
There is something special about the championships that the Ivy League schools run. It may be the simple uniforms with just their letter on the front or the storied history, but this is a meet that every XC fan needs to see first hand at VCP.
11/06 - NYC HS Marathon Race (HS)
What a day for distance running in NYC. The morning of the best Marathon in the world, these HS kids get a chance to run a 2.5 mile race and finish on the actual Marathon finish line. Most stick around after to watch the big race.
11/12 - New York State PHSAA Champs (HS)
This is the "State Meet" for all the public schools in NY outside of NYC. With only one school and 5 individuals from each of the 11 Sections in NY making it to the meet, it is a tough meet to qualify for, but winning a State title is considered the pinnacle of HS athletics. Races are conducted in 5 different classes based on school size (AA-A-B-C-D).
11/19 - NYS Federation Championships (HS)
This meet does what the NYPHSAA meet cannot - provides a chance for all the top teams and individuals, no matter what schools size or type, to toe the line together. This is truly one of the best and deepest races in the entire country.
11/19 - ECAC Champs (COL)
A great season ending meet for those athletes not competing at the NCAA Championships, it's the final college meet of the season at VCP. You can often see young athletes who will be vying for All-American honors down the road learning the ropes here.
11/26 - Footlocker Regionals (HS)
Not many sports have National Championships in HS, but XC does. The top 8 boys and girls earn a ticket to San Diego for the finals, and NY and NJ are usually well represented. One more time for HS athletes to run VCP.
12/03 - Nike Team Nationals (HS)
Last year was the inaugural event that crowned Saratoga Springs, NY the official National Champions, though they had been voted such numerous times before. You can bet NY and NJ squad will be vying for the title again out at Nike's headquarters in Oregon.
12/10 - Footlocker Nationals (HS)
The meet brings together the top 40 HS runners in the country together to figure out who's the best. The list of past champions is a who's who among American distance runners of the past 25 years.