Summary of Hawks Meeting

​The Delta Hawks Youth Racing Team started with a mission to develop the next generation of confident and competitive runners in the Delta Region and we are off to an amazing start. Our athletes have gained strength, knowledge and have produced race results that have captured the attention of the local running community. More importantly, this team has come together as a community of athletes, parents and families that are committed to great experiences for our kids right here in West Sacramento and Clarksburg.
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The first season of Delta Hawks Youth Racing is quickly coming to a close with just 5-weeks left. Our first season was focused on laying the foundation for a lot of new runners and exposing our kids to racing. As we look forward to the fall season the excitement will build as our teams start to compete on a team level. Our ultimate team goal will be to qualify as many teams and individuals to the USATF Junior Olympic National Championships in Madison, WI next December.

How do we get there?
Summer (June - July)
Rest and recovery are critical for the body and the mind. So following the last race of the season we suggest two weeks entirely away from running. This doesn’t mean two weeks of X-box. It just means spend time together as a family hiking, bike rides, exploring the outdoors with no “running intent”. Then the best case scenario is to find a few local road races in late June and July that might be fun to run as a family. Do some running just so the races don’t feel awful. You are really just keeping the interest and excitement alive. In July, we will publish a schedule that will be distributed for registered athletes to follow on their own. The training in July will be light and fun, with that said, running in July is important to fall success. There is an old saying, “cross country championships are won in July and August”.

Suggested Summer Fun Races
- Fab 40s 5k
- Free 4th of July 5-miler
- You can also just search around for some cool race that is happening. It could be somewhere where you are vacationing.

Cross Country Season
(Aug - Dec)
What is cross country? Cross Country is racing over open-terrain (grass, dirt, road, mud, snow, etc.). The courses tend to include hills and the races challenge our kids individually and as a team (Team Scoring will be explained later). One key thing to know is teams are built around Age Groups and we must have a minimum of 5 runners per age group per gender to score as a team. I bring this to encourage you to think of other athletes that may want to become competitive racers and recruit them to come out for our first two weeks of practice.

Here are the Age Group Breakdowns:
DOB Years dictate Age Group
AG1: 8 & Under - DOB 2011+ | 1.25 miles
AG2: 9/10 - DOB 2009-2010 | 1.4 - 1.86 miles
AG3: 11 - 12 - DOB 2007-2008 | 1.4 - 1.86 miles
AG4: 13 - 14 - DOB 2005-2006 | 1.4 - 2.49 miles

Here is the tentative Cross Country Schedule:
- Sun, Aug 11 - First Delta Hawks for Practice
- Sat, Sep 7 - Lagoon Valley Classic (Vacaville)
- Sat, Sep 14 - Josh Ruff Memorial Invitational (Folsom)
- Saturday, Sep 28 - Capital Cross Challenge (Sacramento)
- Fri, Oct. 11 - SRA Youth Meet # 1 (Sacramento)
- Wed. Oct 16 - HOKA ONE ONE Postal Nationals - Track 1-mile (Sacramento)
- Fri. Oct 26 - SRA Youth Meet # 2 (Sacramento)
- Sun, Nov 17 - PA USATF Association Junior Olympic Championships (Location TBD)
- Sun, Nov 24 - USATF Regional Junior Olympic Championships (Location TBD)
​- Sat, Dec. 7 - USATF Junior Olympic National Cross Country Championships (Madison, WI)