NXN, RunningLane, Champs – Will They All Survive?

None will fold. But Garmin will be relegated to a post season regional showcase for those who don’t make the big meets. Other regions already have similar meets. But it lost its appeal as a GuArAnTeEd Pr!&)& course after yesterdays conditions. And it was already clear the bug guns preferred the other two based on entries.

My thoughts:

Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) – the behemoth of the schedule with Nike’s huge sponsorship, the undisputed premier post-season race with the best field. NXN will remain on top as long as Nike continues to support high school cross country.

Garmin RunningLane (RXC) – filled the void in 2020 and 2021 when NXN cancelled due to Covid, and those were banner years for RXC. Most top teams and individuals attended,
and dry conditions led to fast times. That built the reputation for the RXC course as being blazing fast. In 2022 the course was soft, muddy, and slow, which is fairly typical in December due to the likelihood of rain. I was at 2022 RXC and found it to be excellently organized but slow due to the mud, and most of the top teams and
individuals weren’t there anyways (they ran NXN instead).

Champs – the original high school (individual) national championship and a wonderful concept. Two of my siblings ran in Kinney/Foot Locker nationals in the pre-NXN era and loved the experience, but now Champs nationals seems a bit redundant and/or watered-down with NXN and RXC on the schedule.

Hurts me to say Footlocker via Eastbay via Champs is getting lesser turnouts. It used to be that most everyone.would participate.

I will insist that running lane doesnt even deserve to be capitalized. It is a gross imitatation of cross country and came out of a southern toned get rich scheme. There is really nothing to gain from a trip to Alabama.

NXN has, insofar, won the marketing war. They have molded their distribution of the content to support the proper faction -- the runners themselves and the experience -- and incentivize teams to participate from a more strategic regional system.

I don't understand your statement. I live the course. It is much hillier than the people claim who have never been there. I much prefer to the course over Champs or NXN. So that aside, it will have a tough time competing with NXN.

Footlocker, Kinneys, Champs whatever you want to call it was not the original. AAU was doing a National meet before you were in diapers. There was also another one but I forgot who they were.

I'm going to say Champs has the most instability simply due to sponsorship parent company... moving from Foot Locker to Eastbay to Champs has not helped the brand of the race.

NXN cancelling for 2020 and especially 2021 hurt their brand and allowed Garmin (now New Balance) RunningLane to enter the scene in a big, big way.

RunningLane will continue because it's a true open championship. No politics, no at-large bids, no regional qualifying, just show up and race mano a mano.

Thankfully I've been blessed to run them all and enjoyed them all, but it would be nice to have one post-season race. Right now, real-time, NXN has all the hype... but the media cycle is short-lived and Champs will have the final word and buzz like it always does because it is last and all the media entities need content and NXN fades.

Champs needs more regionals if it wants to succeed. Like colorado is 19 driving hours from its nearest regional, it's not a suprise NXRSW is the destination for colorado. Garmin is just as far, but the probability of a PR is much higher, even in yesterday's conditions. Plus Garmin is a team event. Champs is a B meet at this point. The majority of the best are at Nike. If champs wants to save itself it should invite the top 10 from NXN every year.

They wouldn’t invite them because it’s technically bringing up another brand. But what they could do is go by ranking (top 5 garuntee per region) as well as a regional race for the other 5 competitors.

And honestly, why not have a “rising star” championship as well (freshmen)?

I don't know if anyone noticed, but there were only 3 states that participated this weekend at Champs(Footlocker) West Regionals. California-Utah-Idaho

But there are 12 states in the region.

??? Where do we go from here?

Other states competed but no one qualified. IIRC, Utah is the only state besides Cal that regularly send large numbers to the west regional. Many whole teams seem to go. With that kind of school dedication to the sport, it isn’t surprising to me that Utah hits above its size nationally.

I don't think Oregon, Washington, Arizona etc. switched to RL, they just had low turnout.

Running Lane may be a "true open championship", but a championship of what. Its like the NIT in basketball, no one really thinks any of those teams could be Top 10 or even Top 15 at NXN. Nor could any of the individuals be Top 20 at either of the real National Championship races. Realistically, its for team that either just aren't good enough to run at NXN, or want a shot to win without having to face the real top teams.

Nike and NXN won the war. We are all talking about the race in Portland, the alleged Newbury Park drama, what top flight schools will win next year, and about the dominance of Irene Riggs.

Who won at Running Lane? I only know that Jesuit LA got thumped. Who is the favorite at Champs? Again, we are only talking about NXN individuals. It’s pretty clear that only one of these events has buzz, media coverage, and staying power.

The girl who won Runninglane was #2 in California and turned down her NXN invite. Her speed rating at RL would place her 10th at NXN.

The 2nd place girl's RL speed rating would place her 13th at NXN. She will also be running Champs this week where she projects to be top 10.

The 4th place girl will also be at Champs and has the 12th best speed rating of the entries.

For those in regions where you can't run both NXN and Champs it gives you the option to run two national races.

Theres no doubt there was elite talent at RunningLane but it dropped off quick. As you note, Godsey is one of the best runners in the country. from what I understand she stuck with RunningLane because her team wasnt going to be going to NXN and she didnt want to just go as an individual. she wanted to go to an event as a team. If true thats admirable.

I feel like theres a place for all three "national championship" meets. lots of kids would be sitting at home with their seasons over if it wasnt for RunningLane so they do a service. they just need to stop trying to actively undermine the other events and probably shouldnt be calling it "National Championship" with a straight face. really none of them should. it should be "Nike National Champion", "Champs National Champion", etc. until we get one unifying meet which isnt likely any time soon. Thats why, as crappy as 2021 was because of Covid and not having NXN, at least you legitimately had one true team national championship and you had one kid who won both individual national championships making her the true champion without a doubt. No endless Tuohy vs Lane type arguments that go on to this day. Wasnt it nice when Verzbicas unified the crown?

Well, the Nike brand is back in "big, big way." NXN will continue to be the national championship as long as they want to put their money behind this event. The best teams and best individuals were crowned on Saturday in Portland. It's funny that Milesplit refers to it the Team Cross Country Nationals. They very well know many of the top individuals choose NXN. Why not call it by it's name, Nike Cross Nationals?

Regional qualifying means you have to earn your spot head to head against the other best teams in the region, "mano a mano." NCAAs require regional qualifying, every state meet requires some qualifying round. At-large bids are at the mercy of a committee, but you can control your own destiny by finishing in the top two in in your region. Running Lane's format would certainly leave a "deserving" team out of the gold race.

NXN will win.

Champs might hang around but it's getting worse and worse all the time. But as long as it makes money, it will be around.

RunningLane is interesting. I think there will always be a market for kids to run on that insanely fast course.

One of the arguments for why Champs is better than NXN is also that NXN is the "Team" Championships so you have a bunch of 16:00-19:00 hanger-ons behind the true racers up front. Champs is pure quality with State Champions and Regional Champs/Top 10. Last year's field had 22 sub-9:10 guys. NXN this year had 16 10:40-guys.

Surprisingly, there were more entrants (almost 1800) at Champs Sports West this year than at both 2006 (Pre-Nike Regionals) and 2003 (Pre-Nike Team Nationals). Quantity of quality has diminished, however. The Boys Championship Race winner was ranked only 9th by 5k PR in Utah, although he is an exceptional athlete.