NCHSAA Cross Country, Lacrosse Championships to be contested at WakeMed Soccer Park

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CHAPEL HILL - The North Carolina High School Athletic Association will be holding additional state championships in Wake County during the 2009-2010 academic year.

The NCHSAA announced today that its annual state cross-country championships and its new lacrosse championships will be held at the WakeMed Soccer Park. The City of Raleigh, the Raleigh Sports Consortium and the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau will be among the host city sponsors for these championships.

The cross-country championships are scheduled for November 7 in all four classifications for both men and women. Lacrosse, which is the newest championship sport in the NCHSAA, will hold its inaugural title matches for both men and women in May of 2010.

WakeMed Soccer Park is a 150-acre multi-use complex operated by the Town of Cary. The park hosts professional matches, college and high school tournaments and other events. The facilities include a stadium with permanent seating for 7,000, two lighted practice fields and five other fields, concessions, locker rooms and rest rooms, ample parking,
and a first-class cross-country course that encircles the park.

The facility is the current home of the Carolina RailHawks professional men¹s soccer team in the United Soccer League¹s First Division, and has hosted the Atlantic Coast Conference men¹s and women¹s soccer tournaments as well as the NCAA Men¹s College Cup, the soccer national championship. The park opened in May of 2002.

"Raleigh and Wake County have been a great home for many NCHSAA championships,²" said NCHSAA executive director Charlie Adams, "and we¹re sure they¹ll do the same terrific job in cross-country and lacrosse that they have done in hosting sports like football, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer and swimming. We are so fortunate to have both this kind of support and access to excellent facilities."

For the last seven years Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, near Winston-Salem, has been the site of the cross-country championships. Prior to that, McAlpine Park in Charlotte was the cross-country championship site for many years.