A high school cross-country season is built backward from a single Saturday. Whether that Saturday is a state meet, an NXN regional, or just the invitational where you want your pack to peak, every base-building week and every workout block points at it. This calendar collects the dates that will anchor the fall 2027 season, so you can sketch the year now and periodize against real fixed points instead of guesses.
Still coaching the 2026 season? NXN is December 5 and the Brooks final is December 12. Those dates are on the 2026 calendar.
How to read these dates
Race organizers publish their dates on their own clock. The national championships confirm in the fall, and most invitationals don’t post until July or August. So in November 2026, almost all of fall 2027 is a recurring slot rather than a posted date, and this page will fill in as dates post. Every entry carries a confidence grade:
- Confirmed: the official site lists this exact 2027 date.
- Provisional: announced but tentative, or only the week is firm.
- Pattern: the 2027 date isn’t posted yet; this is the meet’s stable recurring slot (e.g. “first Saturday of December”). Use it to plan the season’s shape, but confirm before you commit travel or taper.
When in doubt, the linked official site is the source of truth, not this page. A calendar is a planning tool, not a permission slip.
National championships
There are two national HS cross-country championships, and they qualify athletes differently. NXN is team-based (your program qualifies through one of eight regionals). Brooks (formerly Foot Locker) is individual-based (a runner qualifies through one of four regionals). A talented individual on a non-qualifying team has a path through Brooks; a strong team has a path through NXN.
Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) — team championship
| Meet | Date | Status | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nike Cross Nationals — National Final | Dec 4, 2027 | Pattern | Glendoveer Golf Course, Portland, OR |
| NXN Regionals (8 regions) | Mid-to-late November 2027 | Pattern | Nationwide |
The national final has historically run on the first Saturday of December (it ran December 6, 2025, and the 2026 edition is expected on December 5), which makes December 4, 2027 the planning date. The eight regions (Northwest, Southwest, California, Heartland, Midwest, South, Southeast, Northeast) run their qualifiers across a two-and-a-half-week window in November, and the top teams advance to Portland.
Brooks XC Championships presented by Fleet Feet — individual championship
| Meet | Date | Status | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brooks XC Championships — National Final | Dec 11, 2027 | Pattern | Balboa Park (Morley Field), San Diego, CA |
| Brooks Regionals (Midwest, West, Northeast, South) | Late November – early December 2027 | Pattern | 2026 sites: Kenosha, WI; Walnut, CA; Holmdel, NJ; Charlotte, NC |
Brooks and Fleet Feet announced a multi-year commitment when they took over the old Foot Locker championship in 2025, so the meet is expected to continue in San Diego. The first final ran December 13, 2025, and the 2026 final is December 12, both the second Saturday of December, which makes December 11, 2027 the planning date. The top 10 boys and top 10 girls from each regional advance to the final. The regional sites are still settling (the Northeast left Van Cortlandt Park after the Foot Locker era and landed at Holmdel Park, NJ, in 2026), so don’t assume the 2026 sites carry over until the 2027 schedule posts.
Marquee in-season invitationals
These are the national-caliber regular-season meets: the ones elite programs travel to and where a fast time gets you noticed. They’re your mid-season fitness checkpoints. We haven’t found a posted 2027 date for any of them yet; the slots below come from their recent editions.
| Meet | Date | Status | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodbridge Cross Country Classic | Mid-September 2027 | Pattern | Great Park, Irvine, CA |
| Roy Griak Invitational | Mid-to-late September 2027 | Pattern | Fort Snelling Golf Course, Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN |
| Bob Firman Invitational | Late September 2027 | Pattern | ”The Course,” Spokane Valley, WA |
| Desert Twilight Cross Country Festival | Late September 2027 | Pattern | Toka Sticks Golf Course, Mesa, AZ |
| Rim Rock Farm Classic | Late September 2027 | Pattern | Rim Rock Farm, Lawrence, KS |
| Great American Cross Country Festival | Early October 2027 | Pattern | WakeMed Soccer Complex, Cary, NC |
| Manhattan Invitational | Mid-October 2027 | Pattern | Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NY |
Two venues moved in 2026, and neither has said whether the move is permanent. The Roy Griak left its longtime home at Les Bolstad Golf Course for Fort Snelling Golf Course for its 40th running, and the Bob Firman moved from Eagle Island State Park in Boise, Idaho, to “The Course” in Spokane Valley, Washington. The venues above are the 2026 ones. Check before you book a hotel off last year’s confirmation.
Putting it on a season plan
The shape of a fall is the same whether you coach a state contender or a first-year program: a base block, two or three honest fitness checkpoints at the invitationals above, a sharpening phase, and a taper into your championship Saturday, whether that’s a state meet, an NXN regional or a Brooks regional. You don’t need the posted dates to plan that shape. Count back from the pattern dates now, then slide the blocks a week either way when the real dates land next summer.
When you build that plan in Smagpie, you can drop these as key events on the team calendar and work the training blocks backward from each one, so the whole roster sees the same horizon you do.
