With the fall sports season underway, The Chronicle is here with a breakdown of every sport, including key rules, terminology, qualifying procedures and more. Up next is a guide to cross country:
Overview
The objective of cross country meets is relatively simple: Run the distance required in as little time as possible. Races occur on a variety of different surfaces, but always outside, not on tracks. For example, the ACC Championships, held in Cary, occur at WakeMed Soccer Complex and are run through a path of trees surrounding the complex. Races vary in terms of distances, but the three most common distances are 10K, 8K and 6K. Men typically run 8K, as they will do at the ACC Championships. The men’s race at the NCAA Championships, however, is 10K. Women typically run 6K, as they will do at both the ACC and NCAA Championships.
Terminology
XC: A typical abbreviation for the words “cross country.”
6K: The usual race distance for NCAA Division I women’s cross country races. This is the equivalent of 3.73 miles.
8K: The usual race distance for NCAA Division I men’s cross-country races (except for the national race which is a 10K race). This is the equivalent of 4.97 miles.
Terrain: The type of surface on which the cross-country runners will compete. Examples include concrete, dirt, gravel and grass.
Starting box: Ways in which the start line is organized. Each team will be designated their own small space (aka “box”) on the start line, and these spaces are numbered across the starting line.
Finish line: The designated finish spot for all runners in the cross-country race. A runner’s time will not be officially entered until they cross the finish line.
DNF: The term stands for “Did Not Finish.” This can be for several reasons, but most common include a runner getting injured mid race, suffering from heat exhaustion, etc.
Rules and results
Disqualification (DQ): This occurs when a runner has illegally done something to give themselves a competitive advantage, like intentionally tripping or shoving another runner. A disqualification results in the runner not being able to have their finish count for the team. Their result would be nullified.
Runner equipment: A runner competing in the race must wear athletic shoes and is not allowed to wear any kind of jewelry or open-toed shoes.
Individual score: The score assigned to an individual that competes in the race based on where they finish. For example, if a runner wins the race, they will earn 1 point. If a runner finishes in second, they will earn two points, and so on.
Team score: The aggregate score of the finishing position of the top 5 runners on each team. The team with the lowest total score out of all the teams will win the race. A “perfect score” is a score of 15 as the top 5 runners would have finished in first, second, third, fourth and fifth, respectively. In the event of a tied score between two teams, the lowest score of the sixth and then seventh finishers of each team will be taken into account to determine who breaks the tie. No more than seven competitors can be used to total a score.
Season format
There are 319 men’s and 349 women’s cross country teams in NCAA Division I. Eighteen of those teams, including Notre Dame, belong to the ACC. Duke cross country has three scheduled meets remaining before the ACC Championships. Conveniently, every team in the conference qualifies for the championship meet in Cary, so these meets do not technically matter for Duke’s season.
ACC Championships
The ACC Championships will occur in Cary on Nov. 1. All 18 teams qualify, and every team is allowed to compete in its regional championship as well. As such, Duke will send seven runners from both the men’s and women’s teams to the NCAA Southeast Regional this year.
NCAA Regionals and Championships
There are nine NCAA regionals for D1 cross country. The top two teams in each region automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships. The DI cross country subcommittee then selects 13 at-large teams for the national competition. A team may not be granted an at-large bid ahead of a team that finished better than it in the same regional.
The top four runners in each region that are not included in any of these 31 teams are also granted individual qualifications to the NCAA Championships, as long as they finish in the top 25 of their respective regional meets. Last season, Duke runner Aminah Maatoug ran individually at the NCAA Championships after finishing second overall in the Southeast Regional.
After the regionals, the final rung of the ladder is the NCAA Championships. This year, the NCAA Championships will take place on Nov. 23 in Madison, Wis.
Coaching staff and recent trends
The Blue Devils are led by head coach Kevin Jermyn in his first season at the helm. Jermyn previously coached Duke as an assistant coach, including a 2000-2014 term in which he headed up the women’s side. He won ACC Coach of the Year in the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
Prior to this campaign, Jermyn spent five years at Elon University, where he led a very successful women’s team, earning four straight CAA Championships from 2019-2022.
The Blue Devils begin this season after a period of turmoil under former coach Angela Reckart, but they now look to turn the page. Jermyn is excited for a fresh start for the team, as it looks to compete in the conference and national championships.
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