By Brandon Miles / via MileSplit.us
The 7th annual Nike Cross Nationals will be held on Saturday, December 4th, at Portland Meadows on the north side of the city of Portland, Oregon. The meet has served as the unofficial yet virtually legitimate national high school cross country team championships since NXN's inception in 2004. A total of 22 of the nation's best cross country teams representing nine regions across the county will be racing alongside each other on the three loop course inside the horsetrack within the infield area of Portland Meadows. The 5K course layout has traditionally been muddy and slick footing as a result of the area's regular rainfall. The Nike experience is an unforgettable few days for the athletes and coaches starting with the all-expense paid trip to Oregon as well as plenty of free gear and other perks showered upon them as they arrive on the Nike Campus.
For the third year in a row, Nike will also be bringing the top 5 individual qualifiers from each region. The impact of adding the individual qualifiers to the meet format has put the Nike Cross Nationals in competition with long established Footlocker Cross Country National Championships for the best cross country harriers in the United States. Last year more of the top nationally ranked individual boys opted to race either at Nike Cross Nationals exclusively or attempting to double up at both national races in back-to-back weekends including last year's NXN individual winner and returning champion Craig Lutz from Marcus High School in Texas. This year is no different for the boys, however, the girls' field does not have as many of the top 25 or so ranked individuals in the country, but still has a great number of top individual qualifiers as well as members of the qualified teams.
MileSplit US will be providing on-site meet coverage of this weekend's Nike Cross Nationals in Portland. Expect plenty of pre-race and post-race video interviews with athletes and coaches from Brandon Miles along with numerous photo galleries and race footage from our various photographers/videographers and featured stories by ArmoryTrack.com's Chris Hunt. Good luck to all athletes, coaches, and teams competing at Portland Meadows and enjoy your Nike Cross Nationals experience!