NCAA Adds Two Weeks To The XC Season, Coaches Ignore It

NCAA Adds Two Weeks To The XC Season, Coaches Ignore It

For years, NCAA Division I cross country's official start date was eight weeks out from the national championship meet. Teams had seven weekends before thei

Sep 13, 2016 by Gordon Mack
NCAA Adds Two Weeks To The XC Season, Coaches Ignore It
For years, NCAA Division I cross country's official start date was eight weeks out from the national championship meet. Teams had seven weekends before their regional meet to collect wins (kolas points) for at-large selection purposes. This year, a new NCAA rule was written to extend the regular season an extra two weeks, marking September 9, 2016, as the official start to the cross country season.

With this new rule in place, two weekends of cross country action now "matter," but coaches and meet directors aren't really acting like it. This past weekend, only 10 of the 33 meets took the new NCAA rules seriously.

1 meet didn't meet the date requirement:
Texas Tech XC Open chose to hold its race just one day before the new start date.

15 meets didn't race the minimum 4.5k for women, 7.5k for men:
Lori Fitzgerald XC Classic, chose to race 6.4k for the men.
Rice XC Invitational, chose to race 4.2k for the women and 6.1k for the men.
UTC Powerade XC Invitational, chose to race 3.2k for the women and 5k for the men.
Coastal Carolina XC Invitational, chose to race 5k for the men.
Big 5 XC Invitational, chose to race 4k for the women and 6k for the men.
Tommy Evans XC Invitational, chose to race 6.4k for the men.
Rebel XC Invitational, chose to race 6k for the men.
Forest Park XC Festival, chose to race 6k for the men.
Oz Memorial XC Invitational, chose to race 6.4k for the men.
UTA Gerald Richey XC Invitational, chose to race 5k for the men.
Detroit Titan XC Invitational, chose to race 6.4k for the men.
Mass Minuteman XC Invitational, chose to race 6k for the men.
Allstate Sugar Bowl XC Festival
, chose to race 5k for the men.
UCA XC Challenge, chose to race 4k for the women and 6k for the men.
UNF XC Invitational, chose to race 3k for the women and 5k for the men.

7 meets didn't have honest competition:
Furman XC Classic, No. 16 Furman men rested their three best runners
Shawn M. Nassaney Memorial XC Invitational, Brown women did not run an A squad.
Fordham Fiasco XC Invitational, No. 16 Princeton women did not run an A squad.
Dartmouth XC Invitational, Dartmouth men did not run a full A squad.
Kentucky Bluegrass XC Invitational, Illinois men rested their top two guys.
Sycamore XC Invitational, No. 23 Michigan men did not run an A squad.
Harry Groves Spiked Shoe XC Invitational, No. 5 Georgetown men did not run an A squad.

10 meets had long enough courses and honest competition:
ISU Country Financial XC Invitational
Azalea City XC Classic
UW-Parkside Midwest XC Open
JMU XC Invitational
Stony Brook XC Invitational
Elon XC Invitational
UNC-Asheville XC Invitational
Salty Dog/Navy XC Invitational
Florida Tech XC Invitational
Delaware XC Invitational