Registration Listing

2025 Cross Country

Welcome to the 2025 Cross Country Registration! Please read through each page carefully to ensure accurate information.

2025 Youth Cross Country Season (Grades 1st-6th ONLY)

The fall season will begin with practice on Monday, August 4 from 5:30-6:30 at Copley Community Park. There will be a 15 minute informational meeting for parents at our first practice. It is important that parents sign their child in and out at every practice (even the parent coaches). Practices will be every Monday and Wednesday at 5:30 until mid-October (unless there is a Wednesday race, which takes the place of practice).

A regular practice consists of warm-ups, 20-30 minutes of a running workout, and about 20 minutes of "running" games. It will be an hour total, unless weather interferes. We try to make running fun for everyone!

A regular season consists of 5-7 races with most of the races during the week and about 3 on the weekends. A more detailed schedule will be released at the parent meeting and updated in the stacks "Team" app. If you do not have the app, please download it and search for "Copley Youth Cross Country". We use this app for our season communications.

Our season ends the second week of October. An event will be held (likely Monday evening, October 13) to celebrate the successes of the runners and coaches.

All runners will receive our Neon Copley XC Race T-Shirt. In order to keep the registration fee low, we are asking that you reuse last years Neon Copley XC Race shirt if it still fits and is in good condition. Make sure it has your child's name on it.

This program runs on volunteers! Consider volunteering to run with the kids if you are able to commit to most Monday and/or Wednesday practices. We also need parents to help with popsicles in August and occasionally parents to help on time trial days. You don't have to have a coaching background to help at practice. We will have the workouts and we need parents to help us manage small groups. This year, we will cap the program at 80. Still, that is a lot of runners and we rely on parents to help!

Registration closes July 15, or when capacity is reached.

Email me at [email protected] if you (or your spouse, friend, etc.) are willing to volunteer or with any questions.

Thank you in advance!

Fall Youth XC (Grades 1st - 6th in Fall 2024)

Registration closes on 07/15/2025 at 10:59 PM
Season Dates: 08/05/2025 to 10/14/2025

$70.00

+ Register Now

2025 Summer XC Camp for Youth Kids

The Copley Fairlawn High School Cross Country teams are putting on a Youth Camp Monday June 16th - Thursday June 19th in the mornings 8:30AM - 11AM.
All of the proceeds go to the High School Cross Country teams.

For Registration, visit this link.

Copley Youth Cross Country

Copley Youth Cross Country was founded in 2015 and has been running strong ever since! We are a program for kids in grades 1st -6th and we run against local cross country teams. Our registration will open in April for existing runners first, then open to general public. Registration does not last long! Our first day of practice will be Monday, August 4 and run for 10 weeks. Practices are Mondays and Wednesdays (5:30-6:30). There are generally 5-6 local races.

Copley Youth Cross Country FAQ’s

The goal of our program is to promote the sport of running and to provide a fun experience for all our athletes.

What is Cross Country?

Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. In Cross Country (XC or CC) EVERYONE competes. At the Middle and High School level there are no cuts, and nobody rides the bench.

How Far Will We Run?

That depends on the age group. In practice we will start out at a mile and work up for 6-8 year old runners. Some children will not run very far without needing to stop and catch their breath. We will work with the kids on pacing and building their endurance. Most race distance is based on age. Some races for the younger group (6-8 year old) will be 1 mile and others will be 2K (1.24 mi). Older kids (9-12 year old) will run a 2 mi or 3K (1.86) in most races.

Running Shoes

Your child should have a good pair of running shoes. Below is a link to a document we posted a while back that discusses the topic.
shoe guide.pdf

Races

The race schedule will be announced mid-summer. The group of teams we race against are all in this to promote the sport. We have some awesome partner teams in our regional. Some of the teams we run against are Woodridge, Field, Tallmadge and Revere.

Scoring for Cross Country

Lowest score wins! See Reference below for Details.
scoring reference.pdf

Communication

We value communication. We use the "Teams" app for announcements, changes, and pictures. After you register, please download the app and ask to be part of the "Copley Youth Cross Country." You will be prompted for a reason (name of child), as this is a closed group.

Email us with questions!

Ashlee & Jeremy Eskelsen
Co-directors CAA Youth XC
[email protected]

Youth XC

Pictured above (from left): Coach Jeremy, Ethan (9), James (7), and Coach Ashlee.
Photo credit: Mike Gerst

Meet the Coaches:

Ashlee Eskelsen has been running since 2006 and has accumulated over 14,000 miles. She competed for Washington State University as a long distance track and cross country athlete. She has run in every distance from the 400m relay to an ultramarathon. She has qualified for and competed in the Boston Marathon. Ashlee broke the world record for fastest half marathon pushing a triple pram in 2018 (three oldest boys riding). While it has since been broken, the claim to fame remains. Ashlee wants running to be fun and she has a competitive edge for athletes that want to take it a "stride further."

Jeremy Eskelsen has been officially running since 2015, though he participated in athletics as a child in which running was involved. He has competed in multiple 5ks, a half-marathon, triathlon, duathlon, and a marathon. Jeremy has been taking martial arts classes to increase his fitness and core strength. He loves to see kids reach their potential! He knows the importance of encouragement and works with our runners where they are at.

In the Fall of 2025, Ashlee will lead the younger (2K) group with children ages 5-8. Jeremy will lead the older (3K) group with children ages 9-12.**

We also rely on parent coaches and volunteers to help this program function. If you are interested in running with our youth in a pace group and helping at practice, please contact us! Volunteer coaches are generally parents, guardians, or older siblings, but we welcome others that are interested in running. Contact: [email protected]

**Note: Ages are based on the end of this calendar year. In other words, what age will your child be on December 31, 2025.

Website Manager

Copley-Fairlawn Athletic Association