It is very rare to see a day/night cross country meet anywhere in the country. It is even more obscure to see one in the state of Illinois. It should be a great experience for the cross country fans of Illinois. The third annual Twi-light Invite will provide the action, excitement, and fun for all.
Meet Outlook:
For the girls, look for #1 Naperville North to put on a good show against friendly foes #13 Naperville Central and #17 Neuqua Valley. The top ranked Huskies may use this affair for more than a workout considering they haven’t come up aces in their last two contests. It should be a treat watching five district teams going after it. Individually, Elly DeTurris (Jr., Naperville North) and teammate Maria McDaniel (Sr.) will be up front from the gun if they both partake in the action. Metea Valley senior Kendall Cast has enjoyed a solid senior season so far. This fun meet should keep a smile on her face. Neuqua Valley senior Claire Costelloe is having an outstanding season and will be one to watch as will Naperville Central’s Maggie McClowry (So.) and Rachel Hoffman (Jr.).
The boy’s side of the ledger should be just as fun filled as the girls. It will be hard to see what approach #9 Neuqua Valley will take considering they raced tough at Lockport last Saturday and will have the NIKE Northside-Southside Challenge this Sunday to contend with. Coach Paul Vandersteen will have many runners to unload in the three races. #15 Naperville North also competed well at Lockport but will not have a meet to run this weekend. Coach Dave Racey may let his troops go out and run hard more than 10 days ahead of their conference championship. Individually, the fans are hoping that Neuqua Valley will let loose its top runners. It would be neat to see Nick Bushelle (Sr.) and Daniel Weiss (Jr.) in uniform. Naperville North junior Kerry Gschwendtner may be in the line-up for his team. He placed 14th at the deep Locktoberfest Invite last weekend. Naperville Central’s top man Scott Hicks (Jr.) will be among the competitive field if he runs.
Interview: Coach Paul Vandersteen - Neuqua Valley (Meet Hosts)
The Extras:
Who: Metea Valley, Naperville Central, Naperville North, Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley
When: 4:45 p.m., Wednesday, October 9th
Where: Neuqua Valley Main Campus
Course:
The course will be run on the grounds of Neuqua Valley High School. Spikes are recommended. See enclosed map for the 2 mile and 3 mile courses. Lights will be placed throughout the course. The course does have some tight turns, but they do not occur until about the 1000m mark. We have planned for two more gradual turns (there were 3 last year). The entire course will be roped off and clearly marked. Athletes do cross a service road, but it will be covered. Athletes will be able to access the course upon arrival at Neuqua Valley. Bus arrival should be around 3:45 p.m. to give athletes time to use the restrooms and get a feel for the layout of the course. Feel free to make copies of the attached map so your athletes are familiar with the layout.
Time Schedule :
We will stick to the time schedule as closely as possible after we start the first race at 4:45 p.m. Sunset is at 6:19 p.m., so the two varsity races will be at night.
4:45 p.m. - F/S men (unlimited entries) 2 miles
5:10 p.m. - F/S women (unlimited entries) 2 miles
5:35 p.m. - Open men (unlimited entries) 3 miles
6:05 p.m. - Open women (unlimited entries) 3 miles
6:35 p.m. - Varsity men (15 entries) 3 miles
7:00 p.m. - Varsity women (15 entries) 3 miles
7:55 p.m. Awards Ceremony. The awards ceremony will be held on the track.
Awards:
Girls F/S - medals for top 25; 1 team trophy
Boys F/S - medals for top 25; 1 team trophy
Girls Open - medals for top 25
Boys Open - medals for top 25
Girls Varsity - medals for top 25; 1 traveling team trophy
Boys Varsity - medals for top 25; 1 traveling team trophy
During the awards ceremony, we will give out the top 25 individual medals in each race. There will be no team trophy for the Open race.
Athlete Village:
Like last year, the athlete village will be in the track area. Please bring your team tent. Teams with bigger tents will be placed just outside the infield near the shot put area where there is more room. Please keep athletes off the football field.
Bathrooms/Locker Facilities:
Stadium restrooms and extra porta-potties will be available. The locker room will not be available. Please come dressed to run.
Meet Entries/Timing:
Scoring and timing will be conducted by RC Race Management. Athletes will be wearing bib numbers with chips embedded in them. Please ask your athletes to not crumple the numbers as it will ruin the sensors in the bibs. Please send your roster of entries in Microsoft Excel to brad@runningcentral.com and carbon copy tim_mccoskey@ipsd.org by Friday, October 4th. Please declare which race you think the athletes will run and their year in school. We can always change it on the day of the race. If you are not sure an athlete will run or not, please error on the safe side and submit their name and year. We need this deadline in place to make sure we receive the bibs on time. Leonard Penkala will again be our announcer. There will be a display board of runners in the race and immediate results.
Parking:
Parking will be available in the Neuqua Valley lot. Buses should drop the athletes off at the main gate (see map) and park behind the school (see map).
Warm-up:
We ask that athletes not racing to stay off the course after 4:45 p.m. They should use the grassy areas around our baseball fields to warm-up while it is still light. If athletes leave the parking lot, they should follow the main channels and walk until they clear the parking lot. It is very important that athletes are not running between parked cars.
Concessions:
Concessions will be provided by the Neuqua Valley High School Booster Club.
Trainers/First Aid:
Trainers will be on hand and will have ice available if needed.
T-shirts:
Customized Nike t-shirts will be on sale. T-shirts are $15.00.
Nike Tees:
Meet tees as well as school tees will be available for sale at the Twilight Meet. The meet tee will be a short sleeve option featuring the Twilight logo, and spirit wear tees will be short sleeved tees designed for each of the schools participating. The spirit tees were a hit with students and fans, and we will have them available ahead of time for display at your school. Please note that all proceeds from the tees are donated back to our schools.
Starter and Meet Officials:
Our official starter is Jesse Rocha. Meet officials will be stationed throughout to insure that athletes are safe and follow the course.
Spectators:
Spectators can cheer outside the ropes and sit in the stadium bleachers for the finish. Spectators can also cheer in the interior of the switchbacks as long as they commit to staying there through each wave of runners.
