USA Cross Country Championships
[1] The competition, currently run under the auspices of USA Track & Field, traces its history back to 1883.
The Winter Championships generally happen in late January or early February and since they are three months after the broader season, are geared towards selecting the international team for the World Championships which is generally held in late March.
Occasionally, masters races, determined by age group, are held as part of the championships.
[5] The first events claiming the National Championship moniker were the "Amateur Individual Cross Country Championship of America" hosted by the New York Athletic Club (NYAC) in Mott Haven, Bronx starting in 1883.
The first race in Van Cortlandt Park was held in 1912, that venue has been a frequent host of the championship ever since, 25 times, even as recently as 2006.
In 1962, the U.S. Track & Field Federation (USTFF) began holding a competing “National Cross Country Championship of the U.S.T.F.F.” in the same week as the AAU.
Craig Virgin technically duplicated it in 1977, after winning USTFF, he finished second to British athlete Nick Rose at the AAU.
By being the first American citizen to cross the finish line, Virgin was the AAU National Champion that year.
Starting in 1975, the AAU added the “World Cross Country Championship Senior Men's Trials” in February at a more appropriate time to select an international team to the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
In 1979 the USTFF renamed itself Track and Field Association, USA using the acronym USTFA for two years.
1998 was the first year women joined the men in holding a separate qualifier, at the same unified location.
While the championship has predominantly been held in the last two weeks of November, aligning with the close of the traditional fall season on the scholastic level, it has occurred in eight different months around the year.
By 1970, USA hosted the 1970 International Cross Country Championships for women in Frederick, Maryland but the event was segregated from the men's championship in Vichy, France the following day, though there was a women's race also held in Vichy resulting in two champions that year, one of them Brown.
US men again did not participate in the 1974 World Championships, though the US Junior Men did participate and won the team gold medal behind Rich Kimball's individual win over future Olympic medalist John Treacy.
US men decided to take the World Championships seriously in 1975, holding a separate qualifying event in February.
