On Dec. 6, 2014, Nike Cross Nationals will have a new home: the Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland, Oregon. In the first 10 years of the event, NXN was held at Portland Meadows, a horse racing track that sometimes suffered from drainage problems and deep mud that affected NXN competition, most recently in 2012.
That’s changing. This year, approximately 400 of the country’s best high school runners will descend on Glendoveer for the 11th edition of NXN. Glendoveer is about 11 miles and 19 minutes by car from Portland Meadows.
Gone are the hay bales and other man-made obstacles that dotted the route through Portland Meadows. The course, however, is not without difficult elements. The biggest hill is in a back loop between the 1 and 2 mile, with two other short, steep climbs just before the 3-mile mark.
The course does loop multiple times, which will make it spectator friendly, and it has a 370-meter straightaway at the start and a 400-meter straightaway into the finish.
A press release from Nike describes Glendoveer as "a 5K course that spans along the pristine, tree-lined fairways and across the rolling terrain that is indicative of the Pacific Northwest."
Dave Emmans, coach of the Wayzata High School girls team that was seventh in 2012 and won NXN last year, was surprised to hear of the move away from Portland Meadows.
“I guess I’m shocked by that, because I thought that was tradition to be there,” he said. “It really helps having the same course year after year, because you have experience on that course. You hate to see tradition change. I guess I’m disappointed. I liked the venue. I like the stands there. I thought it was intimate. People could see a lot of the race.”
Sean McCafferty, an assistant coach at Christian Brothers Academy, who won NXN in 2011 and was second in 2013, said that his team is very excited about the course change. "The conditions [at Portland Meadows] ofted dictated the outcome of the race," he said. He expects the golf course will make things faster, which he said will be challenging, "but it also makes it more fair."
Mark Wieczorek, coach of the Gig Harbor boys who won NXN at Portland Meadows in 2013, said he was nostalgic and excited at the same time.
"I liked the course because it was different and every time I have taken my team, the kids have all really enjoyed running on the course," Wieczorek said via text message. "The hay bales and the hills add something a little different to make the course unique, and I think that's a good thing. I do think that an ideal championship course should run comparably to the average difficult course the kids face throughout the season. It is the same sport, and the event should capture the spirit and competition of what has been going on throughout the season. I do think there were a few years where that got away from them and the course was a little out of control."
Approximately 20 teams in the boys’ and girls’ races will fight for a national championship on the new course. To qualify, the top two teams in each of the eight regions will automatically be entered, while four to six at-large teams will be accepted.
Running Times Everything You Need to Know About Hip Pain boys’ rankings here and the girls’ rankings here.
Beginner Running Gear is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World since 2005. She is the author of two popular fitness books, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
