Click here to view the list of Whisper runners participating in Junior Olympics. If your child is not listed, please type their name in the appropriate age bracket. If your child is listed, but not participating, please remove them from the sheet.
Ordinarily, the Junior Olympic National Cross Country Championship Meet rotates from region to region, providing access to all participants within of the continental United States. However, the ripple effects of COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on today’s youth racing.
2020 saw a halt on many businesses, and USATF was not immune. Unable to travel and review potential sites for the national meet, USATF halted the bidding application process for those seeking to host the 2021 National Junior Olympic Cross Country Meet, and thus, the 2021 national meet was held in Kentucky, for the second consecutive year. And again in 2023. And up until August of this year, nationals was scheduled to be in Kentucky again, for the fourth time in five years. After speaking with families in the Whisper program, it became clear: if we are going to travel to a place four times in five years, it’s not going to be to Kentucky.
For Whisper Running, the 2024 post-season of cross country racing will include two USATF Junior Olympic meets in November, and the AAU Junior Olympic meet in December. Meets that all kids can participate in are the first USATF meet on November 16, and the AAU national meet on December 7. While it seems unusual to not have a qualifying meet to advance to nationals, rest assured, there are AAU qualifying meets, just not in the Pacific Northwest. The AAU, or Amateur Athletic Union, is based in the southeastern region of the United States, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Because the AAU tentacles hardly reach the western seaboard, the Pacific Northwest region of the AAU is granted a free pass into Nationals since there are no teams hosting an association or regional meet, similar to what we have experienced in past years with USATF.
Whisper’s post-season racing includes:
Saturday, November 16: USATF Pacific Northwest Association meet at Magnuson Park (Seattle). Overnight stay is optional. See the Calendar for travel, lodging, and meet details. All Whisper runners must have a current USATF membership, and approved age verification. See the Join the Team (Fall XC) page for USATF registration details under “How to begin competing with Whisper.” Be sure to upload a proof of age document – a copy of their birth certificate or passport – into your child’s USATF profile, if you have not done so already. Registration closes Tuesday, November 12, at 6pm. Runners will run in the following age divisions:
U8 (runners 8 years old and younger) run the 2k distance
9-10yo, 3k
11-12yo, 3k
13-14yo, 4k
15-18yo, optional 5k, meaning runners who are 15-18 years old may bypass this race, and race in the Region meet on November 23. If your child wants to race in this meet, or the Region meet, please let me (Coach Dave) know before Tuesday, November 12. Runners opting to bypass the Association meet and run the Region meet must still be registered in the Association meet so their name is in the system for the Region meet. The top 35 individuals and top 5 teams qualify for the USATF Region 13 Junior Olympic Cross Country Championship at Chambers Creek Regional Park, Tacoma, on November 23rd, 2024.
Saturday, November 23: USATF Region 13 Cross Country meet at Chambers Creek Regional Park (Tacoma). All qualifying runners from Associations, along with all 15-18yo runners, may participate in this meet. While there are qualifying standards to advance to the USATF National Meet on December 14, because we are running AAU Nationals, and not USATF Nationals, we do not need to meet any qualifying standard to race at nationals on December 7. Registration closes Wednesday, November 20, at 3pm. Overnight stay is optional. See the Calendar for travel, lodging, and meet details.
Saturday, December 7: AAU Cross Country Nationals at McAlpine Creek Park, in Charlotte, North Carolina. All Whisper runners must have a current AAU membership. See the Join the Team (Fall XC) page for AAU registration details under “How to begin competing with Whisper.” AAU does not require online age verification. Instead, parents must bring a proof of age document – copy of a birth certificate or passport – to the national meet, in case there is an age dispute or race petition. Registration closes Monday, December 2, at 3pm.
The cliff notes version of post-season racing in November and December is this:
Whisper runners should be registered with USATF and AAU by November 5.
RSVP to Coach Dave by 11/12 for Associations, 11/20 for Regionals, and 12/2 for Nationals
Need a hotel? See the Calendar for lodging information.
We will plan on a pre-race dinner on the Friday before Associations, Regionals, and Nationals.
Questions? Connect with Coach Dave at 360-989-0935, or by email at whisperrunning@comcast.net.