CHANGES TO NCAA DIVISION III CROSS COUNTRY; RSC TAPPED TO HOST 2021 EMPIRE8 CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Albany, NY — Russell Sage College men's and women's cross country teams are excited for the upcoming season for a number of reasons. The first is the NCAA Division III has approved a change to a 10-Region Realignment Model for Cross Country. The NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Track & Field and Cross Country Committee, as well as the Division III Championships Committee, recently approved a 10-region realignment model for cross country that will be effective on September 1, 2021. Additionally, Russell Sage College will be the host institution for the 2021 Empire 8 Cross Country Championship on Saturday, October 30 at Washington County Fairgrounds (Schuylerville, NY).

Gone is the old, eight-region model that lasted for at least the past 40 years. In fact, 1981 was one of the first years in which eight regions were used in NCAA Division III. The most recent iteration included the Atlantic, Central, Great Lakes, Mideast, Midwest, New England, South/Southeast and West.

Welcome the new-and-improved 10-region model, which features the East, Great Lakes, Metro, Mid-Atlantic, Mideast, Midwest, Niagara, North, South, and West.

Russell Sage College's Head men's and women's cross country coach David Taranto noted, "The new NCAA DIII XC regional realignment is a great thing for our sport and for Russell Sage itself." He added, "The realignment was necessary because of the continued growth the sport of cross country has seen over the last few decades. As more schools chose to add cross country it became necessary to look at how the current alignment distributed teams across a geographical area. The new MidEast Region will allow Russell Sage to compete against the same teams that we see on a weekly basis at some of the smaller regional invitationals. We will be able to continue regional rivalries and give our athletes the opportunity to qualify for Nationals against a strong field."

That means the Great Lakes, Mideast, Midwest and West Regions all stuck around (albeit with new looks), while the Atlantic, Central, New England and South/Southeast were divvied up with the East, Metro, Mid-Atlantic, Niagara, North, and South all assuming new places.

Here is the reasoning behind the realignment:

Since 2007-08, both men's and women's cross country have grown by 30+ institutions per gender leaving some regions extremely large and some quite small. The new 10-region system evens out the number of teams per region which helps to eliminate one of the biggest obstacles we face in cross country: finding courses capable of hosting regional meets with up to 70 teams.

The 10-region model was adopted after considering several models and divides regions primarily based on state lines, with only four states split between regions (Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania). Conference affiliation was not a major factor in the regional lines and when it comes to data points for selections may provide the committee with more datapoints to consider.

Division III as a whole is undergoing a larger regional realignment with most of its larger sponsored sports (similar to cross country) increasing from eight regions to 10 so the timing of the cross country regional alignment matches up well with those other large scale changes in the Division.

Each of these 10 regions will get a workout on Saturday, November 13, when the 2021 NCAA Division III Cross Country Regional Championships are held across the nation. Championships sites have already been announced for seven of the 10 regions, while three are still up for bid (East, Metro and Midwest).

The 2021 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships will be held one week later – Saturday, November 20 – at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park in Louisville, Kentucky.

RSC will be serving as the host for the 2021 Empire 8 Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships and this will be a first for the Gators since they joined the league in the summer of 2017.

Taranto added, "The opportunity to host the Empire 8 XC Championships is a great thing for our team and for our recruiting. With most of our team from within 90 miles of campus it will serve as an opportunity for families, friends and fans to come see our growing team and the growth we've had over the past couple of years. Our women will look to build on their third place finish from the Cross Country Championship in April and show the community that Russell Sage is a destination for top runners in Section 2."