2016 USATF Annual Meeting Cross Country Council General Session Saturday, December 3, 2016 (9:30 – 11:20am) Orlando, Florida Hilton Orlando, Lake Buena Vista

Meeting called to order at 11:39am

1. National Championships Reports • 2015 National Club Championships: Garrett Heath and Amy Van Alstine each claimed gold at December’s USATF National Club Cross Country Championships at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Hoka One Northern Arizona Elite won the open men’s team championships, while the Boston Athletic Association won the open women’s team title. Kevin Castille (M40+), Rick Becker (M60+), and Sonja Friend-Uhl were the fastest Masters in their respective races, while Castile (91.52%), Becker (90.77%), and Kathryn Martin (95.64%) were tops on Age Grading. • 2016 USA Cross Country Championships: Craig Lutz won his first national title in the Open Men’s race at the USA Cross Country Championships in Bend, Oregon, while Mattie Suver won the Open Women’s race ahead of Amy Van Alstine. Thomas Pollard and Melissa Berry won their respective junior races. Grace Padilla and Jacques Sallberg were fastest of the day in the Masters races, with Jo Anne Rowland and Rick Becker taking wins in the Age Graded competition.

2. National Team Reports: • 2016 Great Edinburgh: Garrett Heath came back a month later to upset Great Britain’s to win the senior men’s race at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country International Challenge. Amy Van Alstine placed sixth in the senior women’s race, while Philip Roacha and Katie Rainsberger each finished fifth in their respective junior races. Team USA (232 points) finished third behind the hosts Team GB (125 points) and Team Europe (197 points). • 2016 Pan Am Cross Country Dave Shrock and Mike Scott reported Allison Morgan (Senior Women) and Don Cowart (Senior Men) won gold at the APA Pan American Championships in Caraballeda, Venezuela to lead Team USA to team wins in those races. Thomas Pollard claimed silver to lead the Team USA Junior Men to Team Gold, while Claire Graves finished 12th to lead Team USA to bronze in the team standings.

3. IAAF Report – Bill Roe The IAAF Meeting took place in Monaco and 12 members of the committee attended. Discussion ensued about making World Cross Country Championships an annual event. Discussion is ongoing. There was discussion regarding the possibility about World Cross Country offering Grand Prix events. Discussion is ongoing. A) Future proposal regarding IAAF offering two events in North America and timing of these events is an issue. January and February is the season for World Cross Country and here in the US we are focused on Indoor season. B) World Cross Country Youth Olympics is being proposed but there are challenges due to low World level participation from the South American Countries C) Future proposal to perhaps institute a Masters World Cross Country Championships. Discussion is ongoing. D) There are challenges at NACAC because of Valenzuela state of politics. Bill Roe shared Valenzuela was not a great experience overall for our Junior Team athletes. E) 2016 World Cross Country Championships are in Kampala, Uganda on March 26, 2017. New relay component is added to this event this year with (2) Men and (2) Women racing 2K loop. Selection for relay is based on athletes self-nominating and evidence of current fitness will determine the teams.

4. Upcoming Events • 2016 National Club Championships, Tallahassee, FL on Saturday, December 10: Tallahassee hosted the November 6 USA Masters 5km Cross Country Championships and will again host the December 10 USATF National Club Cross Country Championships. This is also the same site for the Florida State Championships. Numbers are down this year than in previous years. Reasons for lower turnout and challenges are the following: A) Less easy to reach the location in terms of travel B) Plane tickets are higher and this might be a correlation on why attendance numbers increase or decrease. The Organizing committee is very professional and well organized management group. At this time of this meeting there are 900 registrants. The end goal is to reach 1000 registrants. • 2017 USA Cross Country Nationals, Bend, OR on Saturday, February 4, 2017: There are homes being built near the course recently so the course has been altered; however, it’s better than the former course that was used last year. This meet also serves as the World Cross Country Trials for the Uganda World Cross Country Championships. Athlete’s attitudes are favorable about the courses. There are more opportunities to include the greater Bend, Oregon community to participate in this event and weather has been nice thus far. It's estimated that $60,000 will be the money purse allocated for these Championships which is the largest prize purse ever. There is additional enhancement incentive money available for Runners who make the decision to actually attend and compete at the World XC Championships this year. • 2017 National Club Championships at Lexington, KY, Saturday December 9: The standard course, Masterson State Park is still slated to be used for the 2018 National Club Championships. The bid date for the 2019 Club Cross Country Championships is due by June 30, 2017. It’s encouraged that if you are thinking about hosting Club Championship event for 2020 and later you are welcome to submit applications.

5. USA National Team Events • Great Edinburgh, January 7, 2017: Mike Scott reported 9 senior Men/Women and 6 junior Men/Women will be selected. Selection will be top 6 from the Club Cross Country Championships who wish to go. The remaining three spots will be determined either by a top 15 finish at last year’s USA Championships or an athlete possessing the World A standard mark. For juniors athletes will need to nominate themselves and selection comes from Nike Club Nationals, Footlocker Championships, JUCO and top finishers from the Division I Championships. UK Athletics and Nova International will again host this International event. In addition a 4 person Coed relay team is included at these Championships. This event has historically been primarily an Invitation event. • NACAC XC, Florida, March 4, 2017: This event will happen and Rick Rothman will serve as the event director. Qualifying for this event will come out of the Winter Nationals at Bend, Oregon. Full Canadian and USA teams are scheduled to compete at this event. Some of the athletes who qualify will use this event as a tune-up for the Uganda World Championships. We still need to determine the money finances for this event but we are hoping to finalize everything within this next week. • IAAF World Championships, Kampala, Uganda, March 26, 2017: Athletes will need Immunization shots and travel is long whereby it’s estimated that athletes will be traveling between 30-35 hours to get there. These Championships is at 4000 feet altitude. The question was raised by Coach Bob Larsen that outgoing flights to Uganda be split up whereby the flight stops at a midway destination for overnight stay before heading to Uganda the next day. Mike Scott will check with the National office to see if this is possible. There is also a relay race component added to these World Championships. Selection for relay members can go up to 15th place. The relay teams will comprise of (2) males and (2) females each racing 2K loops for their teams. Selection will be the following: Athletes are asked to self-nominate themselves for the Relay spots. Track marks will be accepted and are due to be submitted to the National office by February 1, 2017. Track marks will be taken between December 1st and February 12th for distances that include the 1500, 3000 and 2 miles. Finally IAAF score tables will be used to determine the point values and based on those values the teams will be selected from highest to lowest ranking order.

6. Masters Cross Country Report: A) Bill Quinlisk described the Tallahassee Masters 5K Championships course as wide open and very favorable. The 2018 Club Cross Country Championships bid from Spokane came has been accepted to host the 2018 Masters Cross Country Championships. B) Kathryn Martin is the 2016 Women's Masters Harrier of the Year C) Rick Becker is the 2016 Men's Masters Harriers of the Year. D) There has been approval that Age Grading Masters Championships Time Tables go from 100's to 10's. E) 2017 Masters 5K XC Championships are now slated on Sunday, October 15 at Franklyn Park. The New England Association is funding these Championships.

7. Masters Long Distance: Bill Quinlisk shared that Paul Carman will accept applications for the Masters Hall of Fame Legends Award. He is also encouraging everyone to view the Document Library for Cross Country Club Cross Country Championships meet history. History for Open Cross Country data dates back to 1883 and the goal is to have this information posted on the document library by next year.

8. Issues with High School timing Timing rules need to be clarified between USATF and High School Cross Country and this pertains to Finish line placing where placing is either determined by shoe chip and/or bib chips and whether the measurement for chronological finish occurs at the torso or the foot at finish lines.

9. Cross Country Awards • Male Athlete of the Year – Garrett Heath • Female Athlete of the Year – Amy Van Alstine • Doris Heritage Award: Bob Latham • Cross Country Council Award: Not awarded this year

10. Report on Standards for Timing Companies at the National Championships – (Bill Quinlisk) On hold until after the New Year but Cross Country Council and Road Racing need to develop a timing mechanism to be used for future National Championships events. Companies have to be identified and placed on a short list for future selections. USATF must approve the timing companies.

11. 2017 National Team Coaches Selections: • Great Edinburgh – Men: Peter Henke Women: Patty Ley • NACAC – Selections still need to be made • IAAF World Championships: Men Senior: Ed Eyestone Men Junior: Steve Plascencia Women's Senior: Denna Evans Women's Junior: Melody Fairchild

12. Selection for the 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships Coaching Staff: National Team Selections are based on the following general and position specific requirements: The Senior (Open) Men's Coach, Senior (Open) Women's Coach, Junior (Under-20) Men's Coach, and Junior (Under-20) Women's Coach Positions for the 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships will be selected from the applications received by USATF. To be considered for inclusion in the pool, all interested persons must submit an online application, regardless of the individual’s past experience or team assignments. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS Individuals selected for the 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships coaching staff must: 1. Must submit a fully completed online application to USATF. Applicants who have submitted applications in previous years are eligible but must submit a new application to confirm their interest and provide current contact information. Applications must provide a full and accurate disclosure of any prior experience on USATF national teams. False representation of prior national staff experience will immediately disqualify an individual from consideration. 2. Be a current member in good standing with USATF, and remain a member for the duration of the period served. 3. Successfully pass the National Center for Safety Initiatives’ (NCSI) background screen in accordance with the current USATF Background Check Policy. (Should a nominee experience any event between the time the background check is conducted and the relevant Championships/Games that may change his/her background check status, the nominee must inform USATF.) 4. Be a member of the USATF Coaches Registry for the duration of the period served. Because membership with the Coaches Registry requires a background screen, which can take up to two weeks to process, applicants who are not current members of the Coaches Registry should apply immediately so they will be approved by December 1, 2015. For this event and all elite athlete events please remember to select the NCSI background screen. 5. Have completed the Safe Sport Course. To complete the course, either attend an in person course or complete online at www.safesport.org. Contact Kimberly Sims at [email protected] if you have trouble completing the online Safe Sport Course. 6. Possess a valid passport that does not expire until at least six months after the conclusion of the World Championships 7. Be available for the entire duration of the World Championships, including travel dates of approximately March 20-28 (approximately one week) plus approximately three days at the event serving as the trials for the competition. 8. Be in good health and able to withstand the physical rigors of traveling with and working with the Team. 9. Agree to refrain from coaching any international athlete who has the potential of being named to another country’s Team while representing USATF as a national team coach from the selection event through the international competition. 10. Sign the USATF National Team Staff Agreement to Represent.

POSITION-SPECIFIC CRITERIA Additionally, for the 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, applicants must also meet the national team staff selection criteria specific to each position as detailed below. Senior Team Leaders: 1. Must have been a senior or junior team leader on a previous World Cross Country Championships staff or a team staff member on previous IAAF World Indoor or Outdoor Track & Field Championships or Olympic Games team. 2. Must be willing to attend an IAAF Rules and National Team Procedures Seminar. 3. Attend site visits, team sign-up, and training sessions as required by USATF.

Junior Team Leaders 1. Must have (a) served as a team leader on a previous National cross country team (e.g., IAAF World Cross Country, Edinburgh International Team Challenge, Pan Am Cup and/or NACAC Championships) or (b) possess equivalent experience as either an international athlete who has competed at IAAF World Cross Country Championships or a coach who has coached athlete(s) at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. 2. Must have demonstrated an ability to be a good facilitator for the athletes and their personal coaches. 3. Must be available to attend site visits, team sign-up, and training sessions as required by USATF. Coaching staffs are selected that best serve our athletes to be successful.

13. USATF Cross Country Council Chair position Thom Hunt is our newly elected USATF Cross Country Council Chair and will serve for the next four years.

Meeting adjourned: 11:20am