Cross Country Only – Nonchampionship Two-Day Meet Exception – Proposal

Currently for Cross Country only institutions (those without a sponsored Track & Field Team), if a student-athlete competes on both days of a two-day track & field meet it counts as 2 of the 5 permissible dates of competition during the nonchampionship segment. Often times, meets will host the trials and finals for an event on separate days. As such, an individual who qualifies for a final on Day 1 may be prohibited from competing in the event on Day 2 due to the current date of competition limits for Cross Country only during the nonchampionship segment. Additionally, many Men’s Cross Country only institutions sponsor Women’s Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field programs. Frequently, if a Men’s Cross Country team is participating in a multi-day Track & Field meet, they will travel with the women’s team to the event, however will not be able to compete on an additional day due to the limits and thus absorb the travel costs. This proposed legislation would mirror the current exception to counting multi-day events which Track & Field is afforded.

The proposed, added legislation is below…This rule mirrors Bylaw 17.24.5.1.1, Two-Day Meet exception currently in place for Track and Field.

17.7.5.1.1 Exception — Cross Country Without Indoor or Outdoor Track and Field. An institution that sponsors men’s or women’s cross country but does not sponsor indoor or outdoor track and field shall limit its total playing schedule with outside competition during the cross country playing season to seven dates of competition during the segment in which the NCAA championship is conducted and five dates of competition during another segment. Travel to competition in the nonchampionship segment shall be restricted to ground transportation, unless there are no Division I institutions that sponsor the sport located within 400 miles of the institution. (Adopted: 1/16/93, Revised: 1/11/94 effective 8/1/94, 4/29/10 effective 8/1/10)

17.7.5.1.1.1 Exception — Isolated Institution. If there are fewer than five other Division I institutions that sponsor cross country (without indoor or outdoor track and field) located within 400 miles of the institution, the institution may use any form of transportation to travel to the number of nonchampionship segment competitions that represents the difference between the number of other institutions and five. (Adopted: 4/25/18)
17.7.5.1.1.2 Hawaii or Alaska Exception — Nonchampionship Segment Travel. Once every four years, an institution may use any form of transportation for travel to Hawaii or Alaska for nonchampionship segment competition against an active member institution located in Hawaii or Alaska. (Adopted: 4/28/11 effective 8/1/11)

17.7.5.1.3 Two-Day Meets – Nonchampionship Segment. An institution may count a maximum of three two-day meets each as a single date of competition during the nonchampionship segment. The institution may select either day of a two-day meet as the day on which to count the single date of competition. Participation in a separate event on either day shall be counted as follows:
(a) If the institution participates in a separate event on the selected day, it is not required to count an additional date of competition.
(b) If the institution participates in a separate event on the day not selected, the institution is required to count an additional date of competition only if the total number of student-athletes participating in the separate event equals or exceeds the minimum participants requirement in Bylaw 20.10.6.3.

follows: (Adopted: 3/10/04, Revised: 6/20/11)
(a) If the institution participates in a separate event on the selected day, it is not required to count an additional date of competition.
(b) If the institution participates in a separate event on the day not selected, the institution is required to count an additional date of competition only if the total number of student- athletes participating in the separate event equals or exceeds the minimum participants requirement in Bylaw 20.10.6.3.