USATF announces USA XC champs/World XC selection event will be held in conjunction with NXN in December 2025

yup, that course needs more races on the same day......

The above was my first thought too. I think combining it with NXN is a fine idea, but I don't love having the races on that course in Portland. If this was just a championship race I think it would be fun, but for a qualifying race I'd like the course to be more similar to the World's course so we end up with the best team possible for World's. Frankly, with World's being in the US we should take advantage of that and have the qualifying race be in Tallahassee too.

Nike $$$$$$ at work

Stupidest thing I've ever read. Time to get rid of usatf entirely. That course is for kids, not adults. AND wtf is a 2k?

This is awesome, I think it's a great move. This is exactly the kind of thing that raises the stakes and concentrates competition and attention in the way the sport needs.

I do wish the U20 qualifying was more streamlined, but I suppose it doesn't really make sense to have a single U20 race since that would basically nullify the NXN HS race and totally wipe out Footlocker.

This is super cool. But that golf course is going to be torn to shreds.

great idea. not enough kids are aware of professional running. great way to expose many to it, and make some lifelong fans.

Hopefully our best show up.

Does anyone know what course set up on FL will be? On the surface the Portland course and the FL course will likely be very different.

Cool, then stay as far the f**k away from this event as humanly possible. You're likely on some watch list, and should not be allowed near minors.

Most years I can remember that course gets EXTREMELY muddy just from a couple high school races.

This course is going to be a disaster before half of the planned races even start. Not fitting for championship selection.

Another bad Gault opinion, this is a terrible idea.

Hey it's okay if we disagree. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But I'm quite excited for this. I think it has the opportunity to be a great celebration of the sport, especially if the top US stars turn up (and I think they will).

Not a Rupp certified course :(((

Check out Great Edinburgh XC. Hell, check out any of the past few iterations of World XC. Those courses are gnarly. A muddy day at Glendoveer is WAY better for champs selection than the nicely manicured Apalachee Regional Track down in Tallahassee or wherever else you want to see them run.

Obviously you havent watched worlds xc relay

The course in Tallahassee couldn't be more different. I very dry and hard packed sea shells (feels like hard packed sand). It's about as fast as a road

I think he means Footlocker, not Florida. But not really sure why he's asking, Footlocker has been on the same course at Balboa Park since time immemorial

no, I mean Tallahassee I was just too lazy to type that out. What I do mean as the other poster sees is that the qualifying course will likely be a sloppy soft mess while the championship course for the most part will likely be extremely hard and fast - unless they do something which was the point of my question.

This is THE DUMBEST idea. Glendover is a terrible course to decide an XC team. If they run it before the high schoolers the course will be chewed up to bits before them. If they run it after it'll be torn up for the pros. There is a noticeable difference for the second race every year at NXN. They should have it on the Footlocker course instead.

And… the selection race had better be held before the high school races, otherwise the course will be a mud pit and even less likely to get the top six “fastest” for worlds.

Mixed reception on here (as per usual towards anything USATF does, maybe understandably), but I really like this. I love that all of these events are being combined into one location - good for the sport! Since everything is in the same spot, I might travel there to watch if I can.

I've never been a fan of how many "national meets" there are in the US postseason, both for XC and track and field especially, between Nike and Footlocker and New Balance and runninglane and Brooks and U20, so it is nice to see some of these get intertwined a little bit for world XC selection.

My only concern is that the U20, Footlocker, and NXN all race separately for the same team - and when you are adding in stuff like guaranteed spots and college freshman it might get a little messy.

I'm sure a ton of these pros will enjoy the trip down memory lane. Guys like Hocker and Young made their breakouts on Glendoveer.