Riders Finish Strong in Postal Nationals Ranking

The 2016 HOKA One One Postal Nationals competition concluded on Dec. 15th. The Red River Boys XC ran their time trial in early November, then had to wait for the rest of the country’s top teams to send in their results. When all was said and done, the RR Boys finished #1 in ND and #65 overall in the entire nation.

A history of the Postal Nationals, from (HOKA One One)

“From 1957 through the 1970‘s at the end of the cross country season Track & Field News and the United States Track & Field Federation jointly held a nationwide competition. At first teams would run 2 miles on the track and mail the results in (hence the name “National Postals”), but then in 1969 when the 3 miles was added, regional races were held, all of which are known as the “National Postal” races. Since cross country courses varied and since there was not going to be a single national meet, the times from the regional races were taken for ranking the competitors nationally. To make the races fair in comparing times, the races were run on the track, but in a cross country type race. Teams of 5 runners were entered as well as individual entries. High school runners ran a 2 mile cross country event in those years. The 2 mile races for the National Postals were done from 1957 through 1982; and the 3 mile races for the National Postals were done from 1969 through 1978 (as in 1979 and after, the Kinney and Footlocker National High School Cross Country Championships were instituted for the 3 mile races). The revival of the Postal 2-Mile is a revival of the spirit of high school distance running, the revival of finding a true national champion and most importantly the revival of a team together. We are proud to reintroduce the running world to the Hoka One One National High School 2-Mile Postal Competition.”