Cross Country Junior National Championships
The 2020 Cross Country Junior National Championship, hosted by the Auburn Ski Club, take place March 7-14.
Athletes compete at Junior Nationals as part of 10 divisional teams. Each Division can bring up to 25 male and 25 female athletes spread across the U16, and U18/20 age groups. Divisions may self-elect to compete as a “small division” and limit their quota to 18 male and 18 female athletes as per Rule 73.
Each division sets its' own Selection Criteria:
There are a few ways an athlete may pre-qualify for Junior Nationals and not count towards the quota of their respective division. The goal of Pre-Qualification is to ensure that the fastest junior skiers in the country are able to compete at Junior Nationals.
Per the 2020 Comp Guide and athlete may pre-qualify by:
Rule 69.1.2- Skiers ranked in the first 20 men or the first 20 women on the final ranking list at the Junior World Championships team trials are automatically qualified to enter the Junior Nationals but are not counted against their Division’s or District’s quota specified in rule 73.
Rule 69.1.3- Skiers who qualify for and attend the U18 Scandinavian Cup with the U.S. Ski Team are automatically qualified to enter the Junior Nationals as a part of the team from their home division but are not counted against their Division’s or District’s quota specified in rule 73.
Rule 69.1.4- The top-5 U.S. juniors, excluding foreign competitors, on the final NCAA East, NCAA West, or NCAA Central ranking lists are automatically qualified to enter the Junior Nationals but are not counted against their Division’s or District’s quota specified in rule 73. If one of those identified top-5 U.S. Juniors declines to attend they will not be replaced; there are no alternates for this group.
Rule 69.1.5- Members of the World Junior Championship Team in Biathlon or Nordic Combined, are automatically qualified to enter the Junior Nationals as a part of the team from their home division but are not counted against their Division’s or District’s quota specified in rule 73.
Rule 69.1.6- Members of the USOC Youth Olympic team in Cross Country, Biathlon, and Nordic Combined are automatically qualified to enter the Junior Nationals in the same year as YOG as a part of the team from their home division but are not counted against their Division’s or District’s quota specified in rule 73.