NXN FAQs
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
The clubs and individuals competing in the Nike Cross Nationals (“NXN”) are selected through a series of regional qualifying events. All teenage cross-country runners and clubs are welcome to participate in their respective Nike Cross Regional (“NXR”) Championships that are located in select cities that represent regions across the United States.
The nine regions represented at NXN are: Heartland, Midwest, Northwest, Southwest, South, Northeast, Southeast, California and New York. Individual and club champions of the regionals are then invited to Nike Cross Nationals. There are also four at-large clubs and five at-large individuals per gender that are chosen by a selection committee to race at NXN.
ELIGIBILITY
In order compete in Nike Cross Nationals or Nike Cross Regionals you must be in good standing with the NCAA, on track to graduate per your high school’s guidelines, and have not been dismissed from your club for disciplinary reasons. Additionally, you must be at a grade level that allows you to participate in high school cross country based on your individual state association rules and guidelines. Individuals may compete according to the guidelines noted above. All individuals must compete unattached to a club.
HOW DO YOU QUALIFY?
Automatic qualifiers into Nike Cross Nationals from the Nike Cross Regionals: the top two placing clubs in each gender of the championship division race at each regional will earn automatic berths to NXN in Portland. Additionally, the top five placing individuals who are not on qualifying clubs will advance to NXN as individual qualifiers.
At-large qualifiers into NXN from the regionals: A total of four at-large club team berths and five at-large individual berths per gender will be awarded. Clubs placing either third or fourth in the championship division race at each regional will move into a pool of clubs receiving consideration for advancing to NXN as an at-large qualifier. All runners competing in an NXR qualifier event receive consideration for advancing to NXN as an at-large qualifier. A committee of experts will determine the at-large team and individual qualifiers.
Seeking upward trending at-large team and individual candidates at the end of season, the committee's first consideration for invitation is assessing each candidate's qualitative performance at the NXR meets.
Once identifying and inviting those leading candidates, any remaining berths will be awarded based on high-level performances in prior weeks. Priority team consideration by the committee will be given to third-place clubs from the championship race at each regional who defeated any eventual NXR champion in prior weeks. In order for this weighting to be considered, the victory must have occurred when at least five club members from the eventual NXR championship club competed in the same race as the aforementioned loss. Priority consideration for individuals by the committee will be given to first alternates at the NXR meets who defeated any top five NXR finishers in prior weeks.
WHAT IS NIKE CROSS NATIONALS (NXN)?
Nike Cross Nationals (“NXN”) is the ultimate cross-country experience comprising a series of regional championship events that culminate with the national championship. All high school athletes are invited to compete in Nike Cross Regional Championships. The top two clubs and the top five individuals not a qualifying club will advance to the national meet. In addition, four at large clubs and five at-large individuals per gender will also be selected to compete.
DO I HAVE TO COMPETE AS PART OF A CLUB?
No, individuals do not have to compete as part of a club. There are also open invitational races, community runs and other events that take place at regionals. Please check your respective regional website for more information on how to compete as an individual.
WHAT IF OUR CLUB DOESN’T HAVE SEVEN RUNNERS COMPETING AT THE REGIONAL?
It takes five members to be an official and accepted club entry. For any clubs that do not have enough members, those members may compete as individuals. All runners competing as a member of a scoring team must attend the same high school or be part of a state association approved co-op program between two or more high schools. No exceptions to this rule.
CAN INDIVIDUALS QUALIFY TO NIKE CROSS NATIONALS?
Yes, the top five individual boys and girls from non-qualifying clubs in the championship race at each regional will earn individual spots to NXN in Portland. In addition, five national at-large berths will be awarded per gender.
HOW ARE TIED TEAM-SCORES BROKEN?
The Nike Cross Nationals meet and Nike Cross Regional meets adhere to USATF rules. For both NXN and NXR, five-runner scoring for team placings will be utilized. Ties between two or more teams shall be resolved in favor of the team whose last scoring member finishes closest to first place.
HOW MANY RACES WILL THERE BE AT THE REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS?
The number of races may vary by region. Please check your respective regional website for more information.
HOW DOES A CLUB QUALIFY FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP SECTION AT THE NIKE CROSS REGIONALS?
A committee will select the top 25-35 (number is based on course capacity) clubs per gender in the region and they will compete in the championship race.
WILL CLUBS BE INVITED TO REGISTER FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP RACE?
There is no formal invitation. All clubs/individuals are welcome to compete and must register for the NXR championship race. Clubs/individuals will then be seeded into the appropriate race. Race registration will close the Sunday before the regional race.
WHEN WILL CLUBS BE NOTIFIED ABOUT ENTRY INTO THE CHAMPIONSHIP SECTION?
Race assignments will be put up on the regional pages on nikecrossnationals.com before the actual race, check individual regional race registration links for registration cut off dates. Clubs will not be contacted; they must check the website. An NXR selection committee will determine the 25-35 best clubs per gender for the championship section.
IS TRANSPORTATION PROVIDED TO THE NIKE CROSS REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP?
No, clubs and individuals are responsible for their own travel and accommodation, but a list of recommended hotels can be found on the regional web pages.
CAN A CLUB PETITION THE COMMITTEE FOR INCLUSION IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP RACE IF IT FEELS WRONGLY DENIED ENTRY?
Yes, all petitions will be weighed carefully and equally.
CAN CLUBS WEAR THEIR HIGH SCHOOL UNIFORMS?
No, club runners cannot wear anything relating to their high school program. If you want to customize and purchase club uniforms, visit www.niketeam.com to gear up for race day.
CAN INDIVIDUALS ENTER?
Yes, individuals can enter and will be placed in either the championship or non-championship race, depending on the size of the field and the athlete's ability.
IF A CLUB QUALIFIES FOR NIKE CROSS NATIONALS, WHERE DO THEY REGISTER?
Clubs will be contacted after the regional race about registration procedures for Nike Cross Nationals.
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Nike Cross NATIONALS Club Team Coaches/Chaperones are REQUIRED to be SafeSport Compliant
WHO DOES THIS APPLY TO:
This is not required in order to participate in Nike Cross Regionals. This is only a requirement for coaches/team chaperones that have teams competing in the championship race at Nike Cross Regionals AND you feel you have a shot at qualifying for Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon.
-Is your team competing in the championship race at your regional?
-Does your team have a strong chance of qualifying for Nike Cross Nationals, in Portland, OR?
If you answer yes to both of these questions, then please read on for further instructions.
The club team coach (chaperone) for each competing club team at Nike Cross Nationals must be certified as being "SafeSport Compliant" well in advance of NXN weekend to participate in any and all official activities at Nike Cross Nationals. (This requirement is only for the coach of TEAM qualifiers to Nationals. Individual qualifiers to Nationals will be chaperoned at Nike Cross Nationals by an assigned meet volunteer that is already SafeSport certified.)
SafeSport Compliance is a required three-step process done under the auspices of USA Track & Field that aims to prevent sexual misconduct and abuse, bullying, hazing, harassment, physical abuse, and emotional abuse in our sports. The goal is to create a clear culture of awareness to protect the participants in our sports at all levels.
The required three steps involved in becoming SafeSport Compliant include the following:
Purchasing a USATF Individual Adult membership online that is in effect for the 2023 calendar year. (Fee is $55 plus transaction fee)
-Purchasing a USATF Individual Adult membership before November 1st of 2023 will expire on December 31 of 2023.
-Purchasing a USATF Individual Adult membership on or after November 1, of 2023 will expire on December 31 of 2024.
-The USATF Membership purchasing link is here: https://www.usatf.org/home/top-utility-nav-content/membership
Pass a background screening only done through NCSI, which is USATF's sole background screening partner. (Fee is $22 plus transaction fee)
-It takes about 10-15 minutes to initiate the screening process online. Once you have done so, it will take up to a few weeks for the background screening process to complete.
-For this reason, it is imperative that the club team coach (chaperone) for any club team qualifying for nationals initiate the screening process as soon as possible. If you feel your club team has a strong chance to qualify for Nationals, it is recommended that you initiate the screening process even well before your regional meet to ensure you are cleared in time for nationals.
-Although teachers and coaches might have already passed a background screening through their school with another screening service, this does not satisfy the required USATF SafeSport screening requirement through NCSI. It must be done through the NCSI process.
-There are various types of background screening options to become SafeSport Compliant. The screening type that you need to select for the purpose of Nike Cross Nationals is the "Youth" background screening option.
-The link for initiating your background screening through NCSI is here: https://www.usatf.org/safe-sport/background-screening
-You will receive an email notification of the outcome of your background screening once it is complete. Again, this could take a couple of weeks so please begin this process as soon as possible.
Successfully complete the SafeSport Training online core training course. (This is a free course).
-IMPORTANT: It is highly recommended that you use Google Chrome as your browser for this online training course. Other browsers are not readily compatible with the particular online training website below and you could risk losing your online course training progress if the page freezes up.
-Upon purchasing a USATF membership, please click the "Center For SafeSport Training" link on your Membership profile tab.
-The online training course can be accessed by clicking the "Access Training" option.
-The course takes about 90 minutes if you are completing it for the first time. If necessary, you can pause your online training course part way through and resume your training from that point forward later.
-If you've taken the online SafeSport Trained course in a prior year, you will only be required to take an annual Refresher course, which takes about 20 minutes to complete. This can be accessed by clicking the "Access Additional Training" option.
-At the conclusion of your training, your progress will be logged with USATF. You will also be given the option to download your SafeSport Trained completion certificate. Please download this document and save it for your own proof of completion.
Once you have COMPLETED all three steps above (purchased your USATF membership, completed your SafeSport Trained online course, and received an email notification of your background screening final outcome), please immediately send an email to [email protected] so that we can verify that you are indeed now fully cleared and ready to serve as the club team coach at Nike Cross Nationals!
If you have any questions regarding SafeSport Coaching Certification only, please reach out to [email protected]
