Is Cross Country a TEAM sport?

The Boys and Girls Cross Country teams ran their only home meet of the year tonight vs New Haven and Columbia City. The boys team were defeated by both teams. The Girls team led by  Ariel McCoy were defeated by Columbia City.  However, the Lady Railroader Harriers defeated New Haven by a tie breaker.

Ok, most of you don't know how a Cross Country meet is scored any way.  Let me bring you up to speed.  A team consists of 7 runners. In a dual meet, like tonight, you have a total of 14 places.  Each place is worth points based on what place it is. 1st place is one point, 2nd place is two points, 3rd place is three points, etc.  The first five finishers on each team score points for your team.  The sixth and seventh runners are called "pushers". Even though their places don't count in the score, they are to push the top five of the other team as far back as they can.  The only time the sixth runner on a team is counted in the scoring is when there is a tie.  Below is the scoring of tonight's meet:

Garrett                                                         New Haven

2nd place - Ariel McCoy         - 2pts.         1st place - Brenda Diaz          - 1pt.

4th place  - Rachel Hood         - 4pts.         3rd place - Mikala Hiatt         - 3pts.

5th place  - Katlin Hinkle        - 5pts.         6th place - Angela Lahr          - 6pts.

8th place  - Shelby Hartman    - 8pts.        7th place - J. Lothamer            - 7pts.

9th place  - Siboney Martinez - 9pts.      11th place - Amanda Fendel      - 11 pts.

Total                                28 pts.                                                       28 pts.

10th place - Caitlyn Prem    - 10 pts.     13th place - Kayla Fendel - 13 pts.

12th place - Zujey Collins      - 12 pts.        

As you can see, after the scoring runners, the score was tied 28 - 28. Garrett's "pusher" Caitlyn Prem pushed the 5th place runner further back in the scoring.  If Prem doesn't do her job Garrett would lose 27 - 28.  Instead, she forces the tie and since she and Zujey Collins beat the 6th New Haven runner, GARRETT WINS!

Everyone thinks this is a sport of individuals, but it truly is a team sport where everyone on the team can have an impact on the scoring.  Congrats to Coach Rhoades and her team on a great meet!