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MPA Cancels XC State High School Championship

Covid Concerns Stop State Title Meets

Covid-19 has claimed another sports event in Maine. This time it’s the high school cross country state championships that were scheduled for Wednesday and Saturday at Saxl Park in Bangor.

The Maine Principals’ Association made the decision today over concerns for bringing student athletes together from all over the state while there is a spike in covid case numbers. And, there were concerns with runners having to wear face coverings for the first time and a state meet.

It is with regret that the Maine Principals’ Association announces the cancellation of the 2020 State Cross Country Championships.  Please know that this was not a decision that was taken lightly, but one that the leadership at the MPA felt necessary to take based on a couple of major of concerns.

  1. The concern of bringing students together from all parts of Maine through state-wide travel as we are experiencing a significant increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in Maine.
  2. The new mask mandate for student-athletes to wear masks throughout the competition. Many cross country runners have not been acclimatized to wearing the mask while competing in a high stakes race since the mandate took place last Friday. This is a concern for the health and safety of the student-athletes.

We received a great deal of feedback from school administrators and coaches regarding this meet and all concerns were heard. We also know that there will be a great deal of disappointment from those scheduled to compete in this race.  – MPA Statement

The Class A, B and C boys cross country state meet was scheduled for Wednesday and the girls meet would have been run on Saturday.

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