Cross country is distance running. The high school races in Tennessee are now 5 kilometers long, and we usually run the races in parks on grass courses. A cross country team must have at least 5 runners finish the race to score as a team. If fewer than 5 finish, the runners score only as individuals. A team may have as many as 7 runners place in a race.
     A runner scores the same number of points for the team as his or her finish place in the race. The winner scores 1 point for his or her team; the 15th place runner scores 15 points for his or her team, etc. The team adds the places for its first 5 runners for a team score. Low team score wins. 15 is the lowest score possible and is considered a prefect score or a shut-out. To score 15 a team's runners must finish 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th.
     Runners 1 through 5 control the team's score; they place. Runners 6 and 7 are critically important though; they displace. The places of runners 6 and 7 are not added to the team score, but they do count in the race. Runners 6 and 7 cannot affect their team's score, but they can add to the team scores of the other teams. Remember, low score wins. If runners 6 and 7 are good enough to get in front of another team's 1 through 5 runners they will bump up each of those runners places (and consequently their team's score).