BREAKING: NCAA XC Qualifying Process Subject to Change

Earlier today, The Stride Report received documentation detailing potential qualifying changes to the NCAA Cross Country National and Regional Championships. TSR was then able to locate the report on the NCAA's committee proceedings page.

The report explains that the Division I Men's and Women's Track and Field and Cross Country committee has created a subcommittee responsible for "reducing the number of cross country regions and participants as well as developing a qualifying system to the Division I cross country regional championships".
 

The potential changes include a five-region model instead of the nine-region model that is currently in place. The report also proposes allowing teams that win their conference meet to automatically qualify for their respective regional meet.
 

The at-large selection process for both teams and individuals is still being discussed.
 

It should be noted that the committee is currently "exploring" these options and that no decision regarding NCAA cross country qualification has been finalized. Should this model be adopted, implementation of the qualifying system would not take place until the fall of 2022 (at the earliest). It is unclear how the Kolas qualifying system would be affected by these changes.