The Southern Showcase powered by Huntsville High School 2026

Huntsville, AL
Hosted by Huntsville HS
Timing/Results Xpress Timing

Meet Information

Online Registration Instructions

Director: Blake Borden -- blakebordenhhs@gmail.com

Primary sponsors: Huntsville Sports Commission & Fleet Feet Sports with the support of Nike Running for 2025! 

Timing: Xpress Timing 

charles.xpresstiming@gmail.com

*I will annually complete NFHS Sanctioning so that states other than just AL borders can compete. If this applies to you, please contact me directly ASAP. 

*Also - ONLY high school attached runners can enter. No unattached runners or club teams are eligible. 

*Furthermore, only schools that are members of their respected state associations are eligible to participate & a team staffed & certified coach must register and travel with the athlete(s) to the meet and be in attendance through their competition.  Here is a link to the list of eligible associations: 

September 18 & 19, 2025- John Hunt Park 2151 Airport Rd SW, Huntsville, AL 35801 

- You can pay at the meet, but we strongly encourage paying in advance. 

*Out of state school meet entry will close on 8/31 -- this is to be sure that our final NFHS sanction is accurate.

- Once you are entered into the meet, you can make changes to your race entries until 9/14 at midnight. 

*Payment: Please write check to: Huntsville High XC

mail to: 

Lacey Guthrie
720 Owens Drive
Huntsville, AL 35801

The account to pay when using Venmo is HHS-XC -- you need to list your full team name, city and state, an email address, and the purpose of payment otherwise there will be a delay getting you the password once entries go to being password protected.

If you use Venmo, please list your full team name with state and address. 

Entries will close OFFICIALLY on 9/9 at 9PM and no additions will be made. Please get ALL your possible entries in before it closes. 

Entry Fee system for 2026:

$100 for championship divisions, $20 for individuals in the championship in cases of having less than a scoring team of 5 

$75 for blue, crimson, gray - $15 for individuals in these races in cases of having less than a scoring team of 5

$10 per athlete for unlimited entry divisions - junior high and open 

TENTATIVE schedule and division breakdown: (subject to change)

Friday 9/12

5:30 PM - Junior High boys 2 mile- unlimited entry for 7-9th grade boys ONLY

5:45 PM - Junior High girls 2 mile - unlimited entry for 7-9th grade girls ONLY

6:00 PM- Girls "open" division 5K - unlimited entries, all grades 7-12, no time standard

6:30 PM - Boys "open" division 5K - unlimited entries, no time standard

-- Open races will run all schools together in each race, but scores will be pulled out separately for large and small, so make sure you enter the correct division. 

Awards on Friday will begin after we get results for the first race and roll throughout the evening. Estimate around a 6PM start and it will follow the race schedule. 

Saturday 9/13

8:00 AM - Blue Girls (Varsity Group 2 - up to 10 runners)

8:20 AM - Championship Girls (Top 8)

8:40 AM - Blue Boys (Varsity Group 2 - up to 10 runners)

9:00 AM - Championship Boys (Top 8)

9:20 AM - Crimson Girls (JV Group 1 - if your varsity is in the Championship - up to 10 runners) **if you had girls entered in the gray race, run them here with the rest of the girls you had originally entered.**

9:55 AM - Crimson Boys (JV Group 1 - if your varsity is in the Championship- up to 10 runners)

10:15 - Gray Boys - (JV Group 2 - if your Varsity is in the Blue - up to 10 runners)

**If you have more runners than the numbers above allow, you should plan on running the remainder of your team on Friday in the open / JH races. There will be no exceptions to this in 2025.**

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2025 UPDATE ON ENTRY STANDARDS: I realize that a lot of you were going to open your seasons this past weekend at Chickasaw and maybe a few other meets that were affected by the weather. I am in that same situation. Please use your best judgement/ REALISTIC projections with regards to entering you athletes with these standards in mind:



* Championship boys teams: Current or realistic projected team average (1-5) of 17:30 or faster


* Championship boys INDIVIDUALS: CURRENTLY 16:30 or faster


* Championship girls teams: Current or realistic projected team average (1-5) of 21:30 or faster


* Championship girls INDIVIDUALS: CURRENTLY 19:30 or faster


*If your top 5 are not likely to average those times listed above, they should be entered in the Blue race.*



* No one's top 5 should be entered in Crimson or Grey.


*Do not enter more than the minimum number of athletes in the races on Saturday as outlined on the meet page. Use the Friday races for any overflow. This is so that the numbers for each race are manageable to both the timer and the finish line crew.


* Please keep in mind these standards are to create fair and honest racing as well as to keep the logistics of each race flowing smoothly. We don't want someone 10 minutes back of the main pack of athletes in the Championship or Blue races. Please adhere to these standards and let me know if you have any questions.
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Saturday awards ceremony schedule will follow the race schedule in 2025 and begin around 9AM. 

Blue Boys - top 15 individuals get shirts, top 3 get medals,  top 4 teams get trophies

Blue Girls - top 15 individuals get shirts, top 3 get medals, top 4 teams get trophies

Crimson Girls - top 15 individuals get shirts, top 3 get medals, top 3 teams get trophies

Crimson Boys - top 15 individuals get shirts, top 3 get medals, top 3 teams get trophies

Gray Boys - top 10 individuals get shirts, top 3 get medals, top 3 teams get trophies

Championship Girls - top 20 individuals get shirts, top 3 get medals, top 5 teams get trophies  & special awards for the overall winning team. 

Championship Boys - top 20 get individuals get shirts, top 3 get medals, top 5 teams get trophies & special awards for the overall winning team. 

JH and Open races:  top 15 individuals get shirts, top 3 get medals, top 3 teams get trophies

*Small Schools Division: 399 students or less in grades 10-12 (Alabama 1A-4A)

*Large Schools Division: 400 students and up in grades 10-12  (Alabama 5A-7A)
*ALL, including out of state, private schools are required to multiply the number of schools in grades 10-12 by 1.35% in order to determine the division your school is eligible to compete in.
Here is a link to the results from last year: 2024 Southern Showcase Results

RACE DESCRIPTIONS: 

7-12th grades are eligible for all the 5K races at The Southern Showcase. Only 7-9th are allowed in the JH 2 mile. Athletes can only run in one race for the meet. In other words, you can't run an athlete on both Friday and Saturday. 

Championship - Instructions for this will come from the meet director annually. I will provide a team average cut off. The goal is around 45-55 teams based on how many are entered. Top individuals whose teams are at the meet but are not assigned to this division should race here as well. In other words, a projected top 30-40 individual should race in the championship regardless of where their team is assigned. I will provide a time for this as well.

Blue - Varsity group 2. If your team doesn't meet the cutoff for the championship, you will run your top 7 here. There should not be any JV / B teams in this division.  

Crimson - JV girls race for teams in both blue and championship. There should be no varsity teams in this division. If the numbers in this race get too large, I will create a gray division for the girls and split them exactly like the boys divisions. 

Gray - JV group 2. This means JV teams for those in the Blue race. This is boys only unless numbers necessitate a 4th girls division.  There should be no varsity teams in this division.  

Small/Large School Open - Additional JV only - no top 7-14 varsity runners in large school open. Small schools need to communicate with me ASAP for approval. 

JH 2 mile - 7-9th graders only. Unlimited entries. 

Registration will close on 9/8 at midnight.

******No pets or bicycles are allowed at the race venue per AHSAA & the City of Huntsville*******
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The city of Huntsville will be handling the logistics. Early arrival is suggested as spillover lots will be a bit further of a walk. There will be plenty of handicap parking near the course. 
John Hunt Park (Southern Showcase) - North Alabama Gold Circuit Standards


https://al.milesplit.com/meets/692336-north-alabama-gold-championship-2-mile-2025/info


^^ALL NORTH AL teams are invited!!

JV Boys 2-mile - sub 14:00
JV Girls 2-mile - sub 16:00
The best xc camp out there - 
Looking for something to do as a team after the meet, check this out!