2019 Foot Locker National XC Championships

Who Draws The Best Runners? Foot Locker or NXN?

Who Draws The Best Runners? Foot Locker or NXN?

To decide who is currently winning the race for most prestigious championship we decided to look to the NCAA level as the deciding factor.

Dec 12, 2019 by Gordon Mack
Who Draws The Best Runners? Foot Locker or NXN?
The Foot Locker National XC Championships have been around since 1979 (41 years) whereas the Nike Cross Nationals have only been around since 2004 (16 years). With two high school national cross country championships, the question remains which championship is more prestigious? Foot Locker has the legacy factor, however NXN has been able to draw not just the top teams in the nation, but top individuals on both the girls and boys side in recent years.

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The Foot Locker National XC Championships have been around since 1979 (41 years) whereas the Nike Cross Nationals have only been around since 2004 (16 years). With two high school national cross country championships, the question remains which championship is more prestigious? Foot Locker has the legacy factor, however NXN has been able to draw not just the top teams in the nation, but top individuals on both the girls and boys side in recent years.

To decide who is currently winning the race for most prestigious championship we decided to look to the NCAA level as the deciding factor. Looking back at the past four NCAA xc championships we analyzed the high school resumes of every top-20 NCAA xc finisher since 2016 (Thanks MileSplit!). We noted if the runner competed at the regional level for Foot Locker or NXN their senior year of high school (junior year if runner was injured). We did this to see where the best NCAA runners decided to compete when in high school. Did they sway towards NXN, Foot Locker, both or neither?

NXN vs Foot Locker Participation Among Top-20 NCAA XC Finishers:

YEARNXNFLNeither
201691023
201791122
2018131316
2019141218
2016-2019454679
YEARNXNFLNeither
201623%25%58%
201723%28%55%
201833%33%40%
201935%30%45%
2016-201928%29%49%

Note: Percentages don't add up to 100%, due to some athletes participating in both NXN and Foot Locker in high school.

The overall conclusion we can draw from the past four years of NCAA cross country is that NXN and Foot Locker are drawing an equal amount of DI NCAA XC talent, with a slight uptick of talent coming from NXN alums in 2019. However, the main take away is that NCAA is still dominated by non-NXN/Foot Locker participates. This is mainly due to the influx of international talent year in and year out.

Raw Data:

M/WYEARPLATHLETETEAMFL/NXN
M20161Tiernan, PatrickVillanovaNeither
M20162Knight, JustynSyracuseNeither
M20163Cheserek, EdwardOregonFL
M20164Zienasellassie, FutsumNorthern ArizonaBoth
M20165Fisher, GrantStanfordFL
M20166Erb, MJOle MissNXN
M20167McDonald, MorganWisconsinNeither
M20168Kibichiy, EdwinLouisvilleNeither
M20169Montanez, NicolasBYUNXN
M201610Carpenter, ScottGeorgetownNeither
M201611Baxter, MatthewNorthern ArizonaNeither
M201612Maggard, DillonUtah StateNeither
M201613Traynor, LukeTulsaNeither
M201614Edman, FerdinandUCLANeither
M201615George, AlexArkansasNeither
M201616Abdi, HassanOklahoma StateNeither
M201617Bennie, ColinSyracuseNeither
M201618Uchikoshi, YusukeBoise StateNeither
M201619Bruce, JackArkansasNeither
M201620Reichow, JoelSouth Dakota St.FL
M/WYEARPLATHLETETEAMFL/NXN
W20161Schweizer, KarissaMissouriBoth
W20162Finn, ErinMichiganFL
W20163Rohrer, AnnaNotre DameFL
W20164Rainsberger, KatieOregonNXN
W20165Lokedi, SharonKansasNeither
W20166Peloquin, BrennaBoise StateNXN
W20167Purrier, ElinorNew HampshireNeither
W20168Neale, Amy-EloiseWashingtonNXN
W20169Barnett, GraceClemsonNeither
W201610Taylor, CharlotteSan FranciscoNeither
W201611Receveur, KatherineIndianaNXN
W201612Schulist, RacheleMichigan StateNeither
W201613Montgomery, AshleyPennNeither
W201614Cash, AlliOregonNXN
W201615Chikotas, ElizabethPenn StateFL
W201616Werner, TaylorArkansasFL
W201617Kemp, ErikaNorth Carolina St.Neither
W201618Evenson, AveryMichiganNeither
W201619Wright, AliceNew MexicoNeither
W201620Piccirillo, AngelVillanovaFL
M/WYEARPLATHLETETEAMFL/NXN
M20171Knight, JustynSyracuseNeither
M20172Baxter, MatthewNorthern ArizonaNeither
M20173Day, TylerNorthern ArizonaNXN
M20174Kigen, GilbertAlabamaNeither
M20175Fisher, GrantStanfordFL
M20176Maggard, DillonUtah StateNeither
M20177Kiprop, VincentAlabamaNeither
M20178Lomong, PeterNorthern ArizonaFL
M20179Kipkoech, LawrenceCampbellNeither
M201710Green, JonathanGeorgetownFL
M201711Roudolff-Levisse, EmmanuelPortlandNeither
M201712Tobin, SeanOle MissNeither
M201713Bruce, JackArkansasNeither
M201714Thies, JeffPortlandFL
M201715Jordan, AndrewIowa StateFL
M201716Ostberg, AlexStanfordFL
M201717Fahy, StevenStanfordNeither
M201718Davey, MickeyAir ForceBoth
M201719Demarest, BrentVirginiaFL
M201720Flanagan, BenMichiganNeither
M/WYEARPLATHLETETEAMFL/NXN
W20171Kurgat, EdnahNew MexicoNeither
W20172Neale, Amy-EloiseWashingtonNXN
W20173Taylor, CharlotteSan FranciscoNeither
W20174Ostrander, AllieBoise StateNXN
W20175Pyzik, WeronikaSan FranciscoNeither
W20176Sang, CarolineCharlotteNeither
W20177Kelati, WeiniNew MexicoFL
W20178Murphy, GraysonUtahNeither
W20179Buchalski, AllieFurmanNeither
W201710Jones, DaniColoradoNXN
W201711Schweizer, KarissaMissouriBoth
W201712Prouse, CharlotteNew MexicoNeither
W201713O'Keeffe, FionaStanfordNXN
W201714Wright, AliceNew MexicoNeither
W201715Brauer, IsabelleSan FranciscoNeither
W201716Rainsberger, KatieOregonNXN
W201717Stoner, PaigeSyracuseFL
W201718Purrier, ElinorNew HampshireNeither
W201719Koech, WinnyUTEPNeither
W201720Receveur, KatherineIndianaNXN
M/WYEARPLATHLETETEAMFL/NXN
M20181McDonald, MorganWisconsinNeither
M20182Fisher, GrantStanfordFL
M20183Kurgat, EdwinIowa StateNeither
M20184Rodriguez, IsaiOklahoma StateFL
M20185Templeton, AaronFurmanFL
M20186Day, TylerNorthern ArizonaNXN
M20187Kemboi, AmonCampbellNeither
M20188Klecker, JoeColoradoNXN
M20189Dressel, JohnColoradoFL
M201810Mantz, ConnerBYUFL
M201811Forsyth, RyanColoradoNXN
M201812Chelanga, AlfredAlabamaNeither
M201813Ostberg, AlexStanfordFL
M201814Sugira , JamesEastern KentuckyNeither
M201815Baxter, MatthewNorthern ArizonaNeither
M201816Seufer, PeterVirginia TechFL
M201817Hoare, OliverWisconsinNeither
M201818Hamer, EricColorado St.NXN
M201819Anderson, TannerWashingtonNXN
M201820Roberts, PaulWyomingBoth
M/WYEARPLATHLETETEAMFL/NXN
W20181Jones, DaniColoradoNXN
W20182Kelati, WeiniNew MexicoFL
W20183Hull, JessicaOregonNeither
W20184Monson, AliciaWisconsinNeither
W20185Kurgat, EdnahNew MexicoNeither
W20186Ostrander, AllieBoise StateNXN
W20187Birk, EricaBYUNeither
W20188Morley, MakenaColoradoFL
W20189Prouse, CharlotteNew MexicoNeither
W201810Rohrer, AnnaNotre DameFL
W201811Cranny, EliseStanfordNXN
W201812Pyzik, WeronikaOregonNeither
W201813LaRocco, LaurenPortlandNeither
W201814Wasike, DorcasLouisvilleNeither
W201815Scholl, TaborColoradoNeither
W201816Henes, EllyNorth Carolina St.NXN
W201817O'Keeffe, FionaStanfordNXN
W201818Roberts, AubreyNorthwesternBoth
W201819Rainsberger, KatieWashingtonNXN
W201820Carnahan, SavannahFurmanFL
M/WYEARPLATHLETETEAMFL/NXN
M20191Kurgat, EdwinIowa StateNeither
M20192Klecker, JoeColoradoNXN
M20193Mantz, ConnerBYUFL
M20194Seufer, PeterVirginia TechFL
M20195Kiprop, VincentAlabamaNeither
M20196Teare, CooperOregonNXN
M20197Dressel, JohnColoradoFL
M20198Kemboi, AmonCampbellNeither
M20199Kigen, GilbertAlabamaNeither
M201910Carpenter, JaretPurdueNXN
M201911Dever, PatrickTulsaNeither
M201912Mau, KyleIndianaBoth
M201913Lynch, PeterTulsaNeither
M201914Allen, ChristianWeber StateBoth
M201915Makepeace, EuanButlerNeither
M201916Meyrer, DevinMichiganNXN
M201917Carney, DanielBYUBoth
M201918Hoare, OliverWisconsinNeither
M201919Kioko, AthanasCampbellNeither
M201920Suliman, WaleedOle MissFL
M/WYEARPLATHLETETEAMFL/NXN
W20191Kelati, WeiniNew MexicoFL
W20192Monson, AliciaWisconsinNeither
W20193Izzo, KatieArkansasNeither
W20194Werner, TaylorArkansasFL
W20195Wayment, CourtneyBYUNXN
W20196Birk, EricaBYUNeither
W20197Orton, WhittniBYUNeither
W20198Donaghu, EllaStanfordNXN
W20199Kurgat, EdnahNew MexicoNeither
W201910Henes, EllyNorth Carolina St.NXN
W201911Lawson, JessicaStanfordNXN
W201912Smart, MelanyWashingtonNeither
W201913Carnahan, SavannahFurmanFL
W201914Kimeli, JoyceAuburnNeither
W201915Logue, CailieIowa StateNXN
W201916Born, MollyOklahoma StateNXN
W201917Rohrer, AnnaNotre DameFL
W201918Somers, TaylorOklahoma StateBoth
W201919Richardson, AoibheSan FranciscoNeither
W201920Jennings, GabrielleFurmanNeither