Mr. Roper wrote:
I think a better idea is to do away with the standard 5k distance for high school XC. Instead make it a range. Anywhere between 4K and 6K. So you could have at random distances be 4.27K, 4.89k, 5.88k… Don’t even need to share the distance. Just measure it to make sure it’s better 4 and 6k. What this will do is take away the importance of finish time. They you can focus on racing competitors and adding things like steep hills, hay bales, mud pits, stream crossings… You know real XC. Unfortunately rate now it is a 5k track race on grass.
Why would you want to do that? There's nothing wrong with comparing times from different courses. If there are only flat courses, it probably means there are no hills in sight.
In the Sacramento area, the section meet is in Folsom on a fairly hilly course but the mid-point for the state is Fresno, so the state meet there is on a flat course.