Petition to increase Ncaa women’s xc to 8k no 10k for men

I think that Men 10k and Women 8k isn't a bad option. In terms of volume, both would be in the 25-30 min. range and allow for distance programs on the women's side to be more dominant. I am a male and think if the women want to go up, I don't think the men should have to go down. If they want equal distance they should just run the 10k, longer the distance the more cross country it is imo.

Anyone else find it somewhat ironic that the petition uses a picture of Lynn Jennings winning the 1992 IAAF XC Championship, in which the women raced 6k?

it is dumb wrote:As far as the men are concerned, the championship distance for D2 & D3 is already 8K.

Haven't read through the entire thread yet... Just want to say that D2 races 10k at Regionals and NCAAs.

Those of you who think women can't handle 8k... We took our teams to an Invy in Montreal a couple years ago that had probably about 25 Canadian colleges and 3-4 US colleges. Both men and women raced 8k at that meet. Everybody seemed to handle the distance just fine. Some of our women were a little wary going into that meet, but afterwards everybody said they barely noticed the extra 2k.

Another example, XC ski racing, women college racers race up to 15k, which can be in the 40-50 minute range to win depending on conditions. The racers handle the duration just fine.

Personally, I'd love to see the women bump up to 8k soon, and keep the men at 10k for XC Championship races. Then after a few years of that I'd like to see the women bump up to 10k for Championship races too. I'm also a fan of having 2 race distances for XC, and if that were to happen I'd like to see 3k/8k for regular season meets and 3k/10k for Championship meets. Top 4 score in each meet and 2 displace, and a school could still start up to 7.

change is good wrote:

Runner10287 wrote:

All season? The men run a 10k twice.

Yes, because 10k is too long to run all season.

Right. So the men’s set up is fine.

Would love to see this change. Why do the men race 8K all season, then a hard 10K two weekends in a row at regionals and nationals? Seems arbitrary.

should be no standard race length at all in XC

Ever wonder how courses can have common starting line, common finish line, and still be able to run 5k, 6k, 8k, and 10k courses? Ever question the accuracy of at least ONE of those distances if they all start and end in the same place?

For that reason alone, men and women should both race 8k......that way it is one course to set up.

Also, cross country is preparation for outdoor track. Indoor track is preparation for outdoor track. Indoor has middle distance races like 3k and 5k. Make cross country for long distance athletes.

Have cross country at the same time as indoors....January and February.

And give cross country scholarships. Those on cross country scholarships can run outdoor track, but not indoor track. Those on track scholarships can't run cross country.

Help the student-athletes not to be 3 sport athletes who also must prioritize summer training in prep. for cross country.

IN summary

8k for all

xc scholarships for distance runners (5 for men and 6 for women)

xc run in the winter in conjunction with indoor track (like the international calendar)

I still can't believe what I see on this thread. The argument that women can't handle running an 8k race on grass is so archaic and ignorant it's infuriating. What a stone-aged argument! Honestly can't believe some of you actually believe this idea. It's as if every other distance event, whether on the track, roads, and in international cross country, weren't exactly the same distance between the two genders. You guys are insane.

It reminds me of this:

"Diana Lee Dodson, then a fourteen-year-old student in the Arkadelphia (Clark County) public school system, filed a lawsuit against the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA), the governing body of public and private school athletic programs, asking that girls in Arkansas be permitted to play under the same full-court basketball rules as Arkansas boys played. Arkansas schools at that time required that basketball for girls be played under “half-court” rules. In this version of the game, which had been played in Arkansas and other states since at least the World War II era, girls’ teams had six players. Three players were forwards (the scorers for the team who stayed on one end) and three others were guards (defenders who stayed at the other end). No player could cross the center line of the court. Arkansas boys played the “full-court,” or “five-on-five” game, which is consistent with today’s standard game of basketball."

I can't speak for D1, but I remember in D2 it was brutal waiting for those stragglers coming in at the end of a 5k running 28-29 minutes. Move to 8k and they're finishing in 50 minutes. You'll get less women participating and most of those that do will enjoy it less. Some women run 10K in track, but coaches don't put women in there that can't run a half way decent time.

I don't see how this would benefit anyone other than women (most who probably don't even compete) who just want to say that the women race the same distance as men.

The consensus on this thread is no one on this thread care about opinions of female college 800m specialists. If let'srun management required registered names only on this thread, there are probably only a dozen of you hardliners whom are advocating for increasing XC distance for women. Do readers of let'srun and posters on this thread care about the opinions of 800m & 1500m female college athletes? Do their opinions matter? What about college female 1500m & 3000mSC athletes or college female 1500m & 5000m athletes? Do you faux women advocates care what college 1500m women think about increasing XC to 8K? I am certain nearly all college female athlete who participate in 800m &/or 1500m at conference championship are not in favor of increasing college XC distance. How many of you advocating for female 8K XC realize how uncomfortable it is to basically race in equivalent of underwear while north of N40 latitude mid-October and later? Anything to delay the process is unnecessary. I recall when female high school XC was 2 miles. All the best high school female 2 milers were conference champs and top ten in state. No female 400m &/or 800m specialist upset the female best 2 milers but some men for some reason think they are doing females a favor increasing XC distances. As I stated early, increasing female XC is not like Grete Waitz in 1970's & 1980's stating there needed to be longer distances in track & field for women. That has already occurred. Grete Waitz pounded the table demanding T&F add longer events. Waitz was correct there were many good female runners who lacked sub-1:57.5 800m speed necessary to earn Olympic 1500m medals.

Wait, are you saying that 800 runners should be racing cross country? Even more jaw dropping, you think 1500 female runners can't race an 8k in cross country?

This is cross country -not some mechanism to empower female 800/1500 meter specialist to run off track. Different skills altogether.

LetsGetIt wrote:

https://www.change.org/p/ncaa-8km-race-distance-for-all-at-the-ncaa-xc-championships?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_31254908_en-US%3A4&recruiter=582620594&recruited_by_id=e43238f0-5b40-11e6-ace6-57593624c546&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=share_petition

Thoughts?

This is such a NO BRAINER!!!

Women- 8k

Men- 10k

They actually should be the same distance. Why not?

yeah I agree.. is there another sport that changes their rules for championships so drastically? Imagine changing from 9 innings to 12 in baseball? making the football field 120 yards for a championship game??

People barely race all year then they have two 10k races in 8 days?? seems crazy to me. keep distances the same for regular season and post season AND have two weeks between regionals and nationals. For both males and females.

Except most teams can barely keep their women healthy enough to race a 6k. How many women's high school superstars did nothing in college? TONS. 8k would be very bad for women.

yeah, i am pretty sure I remember from endocrinology that women's bodies don't make any androgens at all. That is a good way to know If someone is actually a man or if they are cheating. If a blood test shows any DHEAS or androstenedione, BOOM suspension from the sport

I say 8k for everyone... Men, Women, D1, D2, D3...

Then we could get some more interesting courses instead of having to do loops through fields because a course needs to be set up for three different distances (women 6k, men 8k for regular season then 10k if the course wants to host regionals or nationals)

Steiner Math wrote:

I can't speak for D1, but I remember in D2 it was brutal waiting for those stragglers coming in at the end of a 5k running 28-29 minutes. Move to 8k and they're finishing in 50 minutes. You'll get less women participating and most of those that do will enjoy it less. Some women run 10K in track, but coaches don't put women in there that can't run a half way decent time.

I don't see how this would benefit anyone other than women (most who probably don't even compete) who just want to say that the women race the same distance as men.

[quote]Steiner Math wrote:

I can't speak for D1, but I remember in D2 it was brutal waiting for those stragglers coming in at the end of a 5k running 28-29 minutes. Move to 8k and they're finishing in 50 minutes. You'll get less women participating and most of those that do will enjoy it less. Some women run 10K in track, but coaches don't put women in there that can't run a half way decent time.

/quote]

Exactly; it would not be in the 50 minute range for most DIs but plenty of runners would be well over 30.

My 800m women would have a fit, and without them I would have a TitleIX issue on my hands.

Outside perspectives of inequality should not matter. The actual stakeholders do. Most COACHES and WOMEN'S COLLEGE RUNNERS don't want this.

Sliding Scale... wrote:

Most COACHES and WOMEN'S COLLEGE RUNNERS don't want this.

Some of this is of course because humans as a rule don't like change.

If it were to switch to 8k after a couple years everyone would adapt. Personally I like the idea (as a stakeholder) and I realize there would be winners and losers out of this change but longer term I think it would be a plus for XC . Obviously, though that's just an opinion.

For the record, Ms. Peters asked me for a photo and I offered her several to choose from. Yes, WXC was then 6k for women. Would have preferred 8k.