2026 WCAC Championship: Info

Saturday, October 24, 2026

Please arrive at DeMatha no later than 7:15am. The bus will leave from DeMatha promptly at 7:30am. It is, approximately, a 20-minute drive to Kenilworth Park in Washington, DC. Athletes driving there should arrive at 7:50am.

Note the following details:

Location

Kenilworth Park
1550 Anacostia Ave NE*
Washington, DC 20019

*This is the address advertised by the league, though it does not take you directly to the course. They will, hopefully, have signs/attendants to help direct traffic to the correct parking lots. 4020 Anacostia Ave will put you by the closest parking lot to where our team area is and where the races start and finish without having to deal with traffic where the course crosses the road.

Schedule

8:00a - Course Walk
9:30a - Coaches meeting
10:00a - Freshman Boys (Unlimited freshman entries)
10:30a - Varsity B Girls
11:00a - Varsity B Boys (Unlimited entries)
11:30a - Varsity B Girls
12:00p - Varsity A Boys (Max 7 entries)
12:45p - Awards Ceremony

Registered athletes

The following athletes have been registered to run in the WCAC Championship:

• Zahir Accilien, Oladimeji Alade, Ian Andrews, Evan Bouchard, Michael Bridges, Eddie Castillo-Gutierrez, Emilio Chicas, William Dougherty, Satchel Drabinski, John Tomas Felicio, Nathaniel Garvin Jr, Kendall Giles, Kendall Gratton, Miguel Guzman, Zachary Hailu, Elijah Hawkins, Ryan Hickey, Dominic Hilton, Dominic Hislop, Blake Inzeo, Dane Kuzner, Stephen Lawrence Jr, Arvin Mirchandani, Lucas Moisiuk, Caene Nartey, Nnamdi Onwuka, Chase Osby, Kenneth Osuji Jr, Luke Anthony Quach, Fareed Rahi, Terence Rascher, Julian Righi, Sebastian Righi, Stavros Rodousakis, Alexander Soto, Logan Von Spiegelfeld, Renaud Williams

Race-by-race entries will be posted by Tuesday. We have a close competition for the final spot on varsity and I will share my decision with the affected athletes in-person before sharing with the team as a whole.

Awards Ceremony

This is a championship meet. Regardless of how we perform on Saturday, we will remain as a team through the conclusion of the awards ceremony. We expect to be competitive and have multiple medalists -- as we hope other teams show us respect for our performances, we will display good sportsmanship and show respect for theirs.

Freshman race - Medals to Top 12 finishers; the winning team traditionally receives a plaque

Varsity B races - Medals to Top 12 finishers (15 for girls); the winning team traditionally receives a plaque

Varsity A races - Medals to Top 12 finishers; the winning team traditionally receives a trophy and the runner-up receives a plaque

Estimated return to DeMatha

2:00pm (give or take depending on traffic)

Athletes:

• Wear your racing uniforms.

  • SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPRESSION GEAR WORN UNDER THE UNIFORM: Compression shorts, if worn, MUST be the same BLUE as our school color (ROYAL BLUE) and stop above the knee. Compression shirts may be short or long sleeve but MUST be WHITE (though I recommend no compression shirts unless the weather is exceptionally cold). If a logo is visible on either piece of apparel, it must be Under Armour.

*I want to emphasize that it is critical we comply with this rule for the WCAC Championship. Members of the same team wearing mis-matching undergarments is something they can disqualify an entire team for at any meet. Other schools will often not complain during regular season meets because they would rather get another team disqualified at a championship meet. We may have gotten away with some uniform violations up to now, but we must not risk any violations this weekend.

• Wear your team gear (if you did not order any, you MUST wear Under Armour clothing to warm up in; do not show up in just your uniform).

• Wear your training shoes. No flip-flops or crocs until after you've cooled down.

• Pack your racing spikes, if you have them. These should not be your primary shoes for the course walk and warmup/cool down; these are only to be worn during the race.

• Everyone must pitch in during set-up and/or take-down in regards to the tent, tarp, etc.

• Recommended: Bring your yoga mat (or towel) for cooldown stretches.
  
  

Additional Important Details

• The distance for this course is 5 kilometers.

• Parents/guardians can sign up to bring water, gatorade, and/or snacks for the athletes to have before and after their races by using this Signup Genius link for this week.

• Parents and relatives are encouraged to attend; there is a parking fee. Please see information in the "parents" section of this meet info sheet for more.

  • Please note that I expect athletes to stay with the team until the conclusion of the meet to support their teammates. Additionally, this is a championship meet. Please do the best you can to avoid missing your teammates' races or the awards ceremony. We will likely take some team photos after the conclusion of the awards ceremony and I'd like to have everybody present for that. In the event you absolutely must leave the meet early, you must check in with me first because I need to remain aware of each athlete's location under either I dismiss them to leave with their guardian or until we arrive back at DeMatha. Please do not leave the meet location with your son unless I have dismissed him.

  • IMPORTANT: If you intend to bring your son home from the meet (whether he rode to the meet with you or not), you MUST sign the Return Trip with Parents form and return it to coach before you leave from the meet. I try to have plenty of copies on hand at the meet if you forget to print it.

  • IMPORTANT: If your son will drive to/from the meet, or if your son will leave the meet with another athlete or parent, you MUST sign the Transportation Verification Carpool form and return it to coach before we depart for the meet.

• Anybody taking photos of our athletes during the meet can upload them to our shared album here.

• Athletes will be told to call/text their ride when we leave the course. I will also send an alert via Remind with an estimated time of arrival at DeMatha.

Forecast

• As of Saturday, October 17, the forecast for October 24 is partly cloudy with a high of 64.

  • Expect cooler warmup and early race conditions. The coaches will keep an eye on the forecast and update athletes through the week as necessary.

  • Remember to follow instructions regarding undergarments, should you wish to wear anything under your racing uniform.

If you have any questions, contact Coach Puffett directly.