How is a cross country meet scored? A cross country race is scored by adding up the places of each team’s top five finishers. The lowest score wins. The closer your top five finish to the front of the pack, the lower the team score will be. For example, a team score of 26 beats an opposing team’s score of 29.

Wayzata                 Minnetonka
1                                2
4                                3
5                                7
6                                8
10                                9
Total: 26                     Total: 29
Wayzata Wins!

A team’s 6th and 7th place can also figure into the scoring if they place ahead of the other team’s top five finishers. When that is the case, they become “pushers” by pushing up the opponents’ places.

Wayzata                          Eden Prairie
2                                           1
3                                          4
6                                          5
8                                         7
9 (10,11)                                12 (14,16)
Total: 26                   Total: 29
Wayzata Wins!

Regardless of how many runners finish ahead of an opposing team’s top five finishers, only a team’s 6th and 7th runners can be pushers.