Join the Mustang Stampede!

The Murch cross country team is open to all 4th and 5th graders who are interested in running. Everyone gets a chance to participate in the meets (with the possible exception of the championship meets). The team competes against other DCPS elementary schools in the meets. Elementary school boys race against each other, and elementary school girls race against each other. The elementary school races are 3.2K. 

Informational meetings are held at the beginning of each semester. If you would like to run but can't attend the meeting, be sure to get a registration packet from one of the coaches. Training runs are held on selected days after school and on the weekends. Check Upcoming Events for dates. 

Practices

Practices will be held after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week. We will meet in the gym then head outside. The goal is for everyone to be changed and ready to practice by 3:25. The first practice is Tuesday, September 6.  For practice, your child should wear shorts or sweatpants, a t-shirt (with a sweatshirt if it’s cool), and comfortable sneakers or running shoes. Please send a snack and water with your child as these are not provided by the team.

Meets

The meets are tentatively scheduled as follows: October 4, October 8, October 22, October 29 (east/west championship), and November 5 (city championship). Last year, the meets that were scheduled for Saturday began at 9 a.m. Elementary races are first so the meets were over for elementary school runners no later than noon. October 4 is a Tuesday so the meet will be held after school. Please note that these meets are tentatively scheduled. With the exception of the October 4 meet, meets are held at Ft. DuPont Park. The October 4 meet is the Lafayette Invitational and is usually held at Colmar Manor Park. Maps and other information will be provided to parents before the meets. Parents will need to provide transportation to and from the meets. We usually meet at Murch and caravan to the meets as a team.  

Uniforms

Murch will provide your son or daughter with a track uniform. Underneath the uniform, please have your son or daughter wear a white short-sleeve t-shirt on warmer days or a white long-sleeve shirt on cooler days.

Forms

In order to participate and begin practicing, you need to have 2 forms completed and turned in: (1) Consent for Athletic Participation and (2) Emergency Treatment Form. In addition, if your child has asthma and/or has allergies potentially requiring an EpiPen, then you need to complete the Asthma Action Plan. Your child can bring these completed forms to practice next week, you can place them in Kirsten Anderson’s folder on the HSA table, or you can hand them to Mr. Patterson at school.

Also, please make sure that your son or daughter’s school health forms are up-to-date with the school nurse as your child will need medical clearance to be able to compete in the meets.

>> Registration forms.

Contact the Coaches

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About the Coaches

Tim Patterson is a 4th grade teacher starting his second year at Murch. Tim moved here from Pittsburgh after finishing his Master’s in Education at the University of Pittsburgh. He jumped right in last past fall and helped lead the inaugural season of Murch Cross Country.

Kirsten Anderson has been a Murch parent since 1999.  Kirsten has a 5th grader, Kelly Harris, and a 3rd grader, Emma Harris.  Kelly had a great time running last year and Emma is looking forward to being a 4th grader so that she can run. Kirsten is an accounting professor at Georgetown University. Kirsten has been running since she was on her high school track team and enjoys entering races still.

Kay Arnsberger has two daughters at Murch. Julia is a 5th grader and loved running cross country last year.  Anna is a 3rd grader and is looking forward to her future running days. Kay is a PA at Walter Reed Hospital so she knows the value of a healthy lifestyle.  Kay has run numerous races and loves to run as well.

Jen Closser has two kids at Murch. Her 5th grade daughter, Sarah, ran cross country last year and had a great season. Her son, Thomas, is a 3rd grader. Jen is a collegiate athlete, but she has only taken up running fairly recently. Jen has recently returned to her legal career after a brief break to be HSA president (among other things).

  2010-2011 Cross Country

Harriers Show their Hustle

The Murch Cross Country Team came in Third at their debut meet and has raced amazingly well in their past two meets at Ft. Dupont. Congratulations to Holden Scharpf & You-Hwa Mungai for earning medals in the Oct 30th East-West Championship Meet and to all the hard working runners who excelled at their last meet of the season - the Championship Meet - on Nov 7. 

After training for less than a month, the Murch Cross Country team ran in the Lafayette Invitational on Oct. 7 and did a superb job. Both Murch girls and Murch boys finished third in the team competition. Lafayette took first and Stuart Hobson second.

Congratulations to Holden Scharpf for finishing 10th overall in the boys' race with a time of 15.27 minutes (2 miles). Also, congratulations to You-Hwa Mungai, who finished 10th in the girls' race with a time of 17.12 minutes (2 miles).  Both will receive award ribbons. 

In addition, we had four more boys finish under 20 minutes: Chen Guangzhong; Tim Berger; Jacob Mintz; and Sammy Solomon.  All of our boys finished in under 37 minutes. 

On the girls' side, Kelly Harris finished under 20 minutes. Five more of our girls finished between 20 and 25 minutes: Julia Arnsberger; Sarah Closser; Sarah Desta; Erin Harper; and Shrabonti Turna.  All of our girls finished in under 32 minutes.

I would say everyone did phenomenally! I am so proud of all of them. They all know where they finished overall as they were given a number. The next course is a bit tougher so although I expect them to do better as a team having a meet under their belts, the times might be slower. – Coach Kirsten Anderson

Mustangs Train for the Long Run

Last spring, Murch began its track and field team and ended up city champs. To continue this success, this fall, Murch began its inaugural cross country season coached by Murch parent Kirsten Anderson and fourth-grade teacher Tim Patterson.

“I’ve been running for years and am looking forward to running with the Murch kids,” says Anderson.

Cross country is open to boys and girls in the 4th and 5th grades. The cross country practices will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. These practices will not conflict with Girls on the Run workouts and girls may participate in both activities. The cross country team will compete against other DCPS elementary schools in DCPS-sanctioned meets.

For more information, contact Coach Patterson in person or Coach Anderson via email.