NXN-SW figures to draw an even larger contingent from Colorado than in the last three years. Several top teams are already indicated interest. Colorado Track XC file photo.
Once again, Colorado high school cross country runners will have several different options to extend their competitive seasons beyond the CHSAA-sanctioned season.
Following the CHSAA state meet on October 30, the USATF Junior Olympic state cross country championships will take place at DeKoevend Park in LIttleton on Saturday, November 6. Some individuals use this meet as a qualifier for the next level of JO cross country competition. Others use it as as sharpening meet for NXN-SW or Foot Locker, a way to add some diversity to the long period between the state meet and the NXN-SW or Foot Locker regional meets. To register for the state JO meet or to see more information about the meet, click on this link:
USATF-CO State Junior Olympic Championships
Next up on the calendar is the NXN-SW regional meet in Mesa, Arizona, on November 20. The meet has both a championship and an open division. Registration for both divisions is the same, but participation in the championship races is by invitation only. Approximately 25 teams from the five-state region, plus additional top individuals, will be selected for the championship races. The top two finishing teams in both boys and girls advance to Nike Cross Nationals on December 4 in Portland, Oregon. To register for the NXN-SW event, click on this link:
Note that a separate citizens' race registration will open soon for those not quite the proper age to run in the high school races.
Matt Norton and Alan Versaw are the NXN-SW ambassadors for the state of Colorado. Please feel welcome to address either of us with questions you may have about participating in the meet.
This year's NXN-SW regional has been moved to Toka Sticks Golf Course in Mesa, Arizona. Unlike the course of the last three years, this one is reputed to be flat and fast.
This link takes you to a map of the Toka Sticks course.
The last post-season regional qualifying race is the Foot Locker Midwest Regional, held at the venerable UW-Parkside course a little south of Racine, Wisconsin. Expect the unexpected with respect to the weather for this event. The meet has been held in windy conditions in the 20s and sunny conditions with temperatures pushing 50. The course is sometimes dry, sometimes frozen, and sometimes three inches of muck. The top ten individuals, both boys and girls, from this meet qualify for Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego, California, on December 11.
Foot Locker MW Registration and Information
I would very much like to keep tabs on teams and inviduals participating in these post-season events. Please feel welcome to drop me an e-mail notifying me of your intentions to compete. Then, shortly before each meet, I'll try to preview the Colorado entries for each event.