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The 2008 Legends Meet has concluded. Results are now available here. Congratulations to all of the runners of this years event and good luck for the rest of the season. We'll see you next year!

What is The Legends Cross Country Meet?

It is an opportunity to: 

• » offer the athletes a fast, accurate course with good competition and awards. 
• » honor legends of the sport who will be presenting awards to the athletes.
• » provide athletes a link to Ohio's great history in the sport by meeting The Legends.

The 2008 Legends

Alan Scharsu -1978 Graduate of Austintown Fitch HS - Alan won 7 AAA Ohio State Championships, 3 in cross country, 3 in the 2 mile and 1 in the mile. He also led his team to the 1975 State Cross Country Team Championship. Alan went undefeated in track and cross country his sophomore, junior and senior years. Alan had the fastest 2 mile time in the nation both his junior (8:45) and senior (8:44) years. His high school PR's were 1 mile - 4:09.8, 2 mile - 8:44 and 5K - 14:11. Alan attended Penn State University where he was a 3 time All-American in Cross Country and 2 time All-American in track. He was the top American finisher in the 1980 and 1981 NCAA cross country championships where he finished 7th and 6th.  Also, in 1980 Alan finished 2nd at the USATF national cross country championships. His college pr's were 1500mm 3:42, 5k 13:42 and 10k 29:20. After college, Alan competed for Athetics West for 6 years where he was a member of 3 USATF cross country championship teams, made 2 USA national teams and set pr's of 4:01 in the mile, 13:33 in the 5k and 28:36 in the 10k. He qualified for the 1980 US Olympic Trials in the 5000 meter and the 1988 Olympic Trials in the marathon.  Alan currently is ranked 7^th (behind such names as Steve Prefontaine, Craig Virgin and Gerry Lindgren) on the All-Time US High School List for the 2 mile with his 8:44.  Alan currently resides in San Diego.

Patty Metzler Champney -1983 graduate of Jackson Milton HS - Patty won 7 Div III Ohio State Championships 4 in track and 3 in cross-country.  She won the 1600 meter run 4 years in a row running a fastest time of 4:55 which was the Div III state record for 20 years.  Patty also set the Div III State 5K CC Record in 1982 with a time of 17:17 which still stands 26 years later.  Patty was a three time high school national champion.  In 1980, she won the TFA-USA nationals in Dayton running 3,000 meters in 10:18.  In the fall of 1982, she won the TFA-USA high school cross-country championships in Raleigh, NC running 18:08 for 5,000 meters.  She also won the 3000m run at the 1982 TAC Jr. Olympics in a time of 9:48. Patty's HS PR's were: 800m 2:16; 1600m 4:55; 3,000m 9:48, 5000m 17:17, 10km 34:50.  In the summer of 1982, she was invited to train at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.  Patty competed for North Carolina State University from 1983 to 1987 where she helped her team to place 3^rd in the NCCA Division I Cross-Country Championships in 1983 and 1985.  In 1990, Patty was invited to move to California to train for the 1992 Olympic trials with Brooks Johnson, of  Stanford University.  Patty ran an all time PR of 16:48 5k in a track meet at the Univ. of Cal Berkeley during this time.  Patty, husband Lou and daughter Amanda currently reside in North Jackson.   

Last Year's Legends

Left to right: Ann Henderson, Ted Rupe, Mark Croghan

The 2008 Legends Cross Country Meet will be held:

Date and Location

Saturday, October 4th, 2008. The meet will be held at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds -
899 Everett Hull Rd. Cortland, OH. The Fairgrounds offers an excellent facility for cross country meets. Ample parking, seating and restrooms are available to complement a fast, spectator-friendly course. Maplewood HS will be the host school for The Legends Meet.

Awards

The top three teams in the high school races and the top two teams in the jr. high races will receive team picture plaque awards. The top seven members of the winning high school teams and the coach will receive individual awards. The top 25 individuals in the high school races and the top 15 individuals in the jr. high race will receive individual awards. The overall individual champions will receive picture plaques of them crossing the finish line. Awards will be presented by "Legends of Cross Country" - runners from the past that helped make Ohio Cross Country the great sport that it is today. Team awards will be presented in front of the grandstands 1 hour after the scheduled start time of each race. Individual awards are presented at the finish of each race.

Entry

An online registration form for coaches is now available by clicking here. The meet schedule will have eight races. This will include boys and girls junior high races and Division I, II and III High School Races for both boys and girls*. Divisions will be decided by OHSAA assignments. Fees for the meet are listed below.

Fees:
- $65 HS Boys (unlimited entries; $10/individual if less than 7 runners)
- $65 HS Girls (unlimited entries; $10/individual if less than 7 runners)
- $45 JH Boys (unlimited entries; $10/individual if less than 5 runners)
- $45 JH Girls (unlimited entries; $10/individual if less than 5 runners)

 

Note: You may break your teams into additional "B" squads for scoring for an additional $25 per B squad.
* Each coach submitting a full squad into any one of the four races will receive a Legends Meet shirt. (You do not get additional shirts for each B squad)
 

Team awards will be presented in front of the grandstands 1 hour after the scheduled start time of each race.

Schedule of Events

Computer Timing System

We will be using the DAG Chip Timing System - a chip embedded into the race number. This is the same system used in the 2007 State CC Meet and 2007 Big Ten Championships hosted by OSU. To keep entry fees low, we did not incorporate the cost of the DAG Chips into The Legends entry fee, so we will be requiring that all numbers are returned. There will be a bullpen area at the finish of the race where water will be available and numbers will be collected. If coaches have runners that do not run or do not finish the race, they must turn in the numbers for those athletes at the registration area. Each number carries about a $5 value. Schools will be charged for missing numbers.

Vital Info

• » Directions to Trumbull County Fairgrounds 
• » Map of Area
• » 5K Course Map (PDF)
• » 2 Mile Course Map (PDF)
• » Trumbull Fairgrounds Facility Layout (PDF)
• »  Area Hotels