How does one score cross-country meets? Let’s start with an example. Take these results from the 2021 Central League Champs:
| PLACE/POINTS | ATHLETE | TEAM |
| 1 | Ethan Fingerhut | Haverford Township HS |
| 2 | Patrick Lawson | Haverford Township HS |
| 3 | Sarem Khan | Lower Merion |
| 4 | Alexander Bullard | Lower Merion |
| 5 | Gavin Mogck | Penncrest |
| 6 | Simon Schmieder | Lower Merion |
| 7 | Quentin Ryan | Haverford Township HS |
| 8 | Andrew Gannon | Lower Merion |
| 9 | Leo Perlstein | Harriton |
| 10 | Michael Colavito | Garnet Valley |
| 11 | Michael Baumgardner | Conestoga |
| 12 | Ryle Mellinger | Garnet Valley |
| 13 | Benjamin Ent | Strath Haven |
| 14 | David Litvin | Lower Merion |
| 15 | Owen Short | Harriton |
Each team is scored based on the place of their first 5 runners. Lower Merion was the 1st place team with a score of 3+4+6+8+14, or 35.
What happens if two teams end up with the same score? In this case, the 6th place runner of each team is added to the score, and that new score is used to determine which team gets the higher placing. If there is a tie using the 6th place runner of each team, the 7th place runners are scored.