Episode 53 - 2021 Regional Realignment

On July 8th, D3 XC went under a regional realignment from 8 regions to 10 regions. It came as a surprise to some and an “Oh yeah” to others as this was voted on in the 2019 Coaches Convention. Some regions stayed the same, while others were completely changed. The Wisconsin schools will face off against the Minnesota schools, colleges in New York and Massachusetts will be split amongst different regions. These changes were made to create equal field sizes as some regions would be north of 50 teams while others would barely get to 20. More information on the realignment The biggest change will be the 1 Automatic Qualifying spot. In years past, it’s been 2 with 16 At-Large Bids. Now, there will be 10 Auto Spots and 22 At-Large Bids, giving a lot of responsibility to the selection committee. Jordan Carpenter  comes back on to discuss these changes and what went on behind the scenes when creating this realignment. Cassie Funke-Harris, Head XC Coach at Amherst College, and Jeff Stiles, Head XC Coach at Wash U, share their thoughts on the realignment and how it may affect their programs. Stay tuned for our rankings! Thank you to Under Armour All Out Mile for partnering with us! You can learn more and register for the CITIUS Mag team here: www.uaalloutmile.com. You’ll have a chance to win Cash Prizes, Gear, and if the CITIUS Mag team has the most milers, we can donate money to charity! Official training for the mile is from August 30th to September 30th. You then can run your mile from October 1st - October 11th. Need training advice? The link above has you covered! As always, we really appreciate your support of this podcast. If you’d like to help spread the word, share the podcast with a friend, or leave us a review wherever you’re listening. If you would like to help support the podcast, please consider making a donation on the D3 Glory Days Venmo. This helps offset some costs and will go towards a new website soon. If you want to rep D3 Glory Days on your next run, head to our Merch Store. And finally, follow us on social media! We’re on Instagram, Twitter and Strava.