The Great American XC Festival, held annually at the WakeMed Soccer Complex course in Cary, North Carolina, will not be held in 2020 due to ongoing precautions surrounding the spread of COVID-19, the National Scholastic Athletic Foundation announced recently.
The cancellation follows moves made by other high profile events like the Manhattan Invitational, PTXC 12, and Team Cross Country Natoinals, among others, in recent weeks.
One of the top high school cross country invitationals held in the Southeast each season, there were increasing concerns over the availability of the WakeMed course in October for Great American, and, along with the delay of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association's fall sports season and the likelihood that out-of-state teams would be unlikely to attend, the organizing body came to the unfortunate decision.
* In 2019, North Rockland's Katelyn Tuohy, a three-time Team Cross Country Nationals winner, won Great American in a time of 16:22.80
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The HBCU Challenge, also scheduled to take place in October, was also canceled in coordination with this decision.
The NSAF said it will likely announce a "Virtual Great American Cross Country event" in the coming days.