Eligibility and Qualifying Guidelines

The NIKE OUTDOOR NATIONALS is a USATF-sanctioned event and the meet requirement is simply that students are enrolled in high school or middle school.  Many states do allow student-athletes to represent their schools outside the designed season and therefore students must compete unattached or for clubs.  Please check with your school administrator if you have questions about school or club representation. 

Championship and Emerging Elite athletes are:

• Full-time students in grades 6-12 born September 1, 2004 or later.

• Home-schooled athletes who meet the age requirements.

• Full-time students in grades 6-7-8 who are eligible to compete for a high school team in state association competition in winter or spring 2023-2024.

• Graduating seniors are eligible to compete post-graduation.

Freshman athletes are:

• Full-time students in grade 9 for the 2023-24 school year.

Middle School athletes are:

• Full-time students in grades 6-7-8 for the 2023-24 school year.

The NSAF will determine the maximum field size for all EE, Championship, Freshman, and Club sections based on time schedule and safety of the athletes competing.  Once the maximum field size is reached, no further registrations will be accepted. Please enter right away if the entry standard has been met. Once an event reaches capacity, it might not re-open. 

Any freshman/MS athlete who meets the entry standard for the EE or Championship sections are encouraged to enter those divisions.

All athletes must have been born September 1, 2003 or later. Grade refers to the athlete during the 2024 outdoor season.

For eligibility rules for transgender athletes, please click HERE.

USATF membership is not required for entry into NON.

Entry fees and deadlines

Normal Entry

• Individual Events: $55 per event

• Decathlon/Heptathlon: $200 per event

• Relays: $225 per relay - includes commemorative customized baton - with team name - per relay team.

ENTRY DEADLINE:          

Wednesday, June 5, 2024 9:00pm PT (11:59pm ET)   

All entries are due by the above deadline.  

Athlete gift

• All athletes competing at NIN will receive a commemorative gift, courtesy of the NSAF and Nike.
• Athlete gift is for competing at NON, not simply for entering.
• Athletes must be on site and pick up gift in person.
• All accepted relay teams will receive a commemorative custom relay baton. These must be picked up on site.

Qualifying Guidelines

All qualifying times must be FAT.  Hand times are not acceptable. For qualifying standards, please check our Qualifying Standards page in this section.

All qualifying marks must come from the 2024 season and have been achieved after January 1, 2024.

Entry limits exist for all events. Events will be filled on a first come, first serve basis with athletes who meet an entry standard and enter the meet. Meeting the entry standard does not guarantee entry into the meet. Please do not delay in entering if you have met an entry standard.  Once an event fills, it may not re-open.

If an entry has been accepted in the Emerging Elite division and the athlete goes on to meet the Championship standard, later in the season, please email us at [email protected] to request entry in the Championship division. Athletes may be moved based on number of current entries and seed mark in the Championship division. 

-Important Registration Note: For Nike Outdoor Nationals an athlete must submit all entries under one single affiliation: High School, Club, or Unattached. If you plan to compete for a team or on a relay, please submit an entry as either High School or Club, not Unattached. Please ask your coach to add Nike Outdoor Nationals to the team calendar so that you have the option to register as a team attached. If you have separate team and unattached bios and you need to merge them, please follow THESE INSTRUCTIONS**  

Altitude Adjustments

Altitude adjusted entry times for events 800m and above will be accepted. To have your time considered, please use the altitude adjustment calculator found here to determine your entry time. In your entry, please note that the time has been converted, the altitude of the site and a link to the results where the time was achieved.  

Individual Qualifying:

• Qualifying marks may be achieved in meets since January 1st, 2024.

• The decathlon/heptathlon is limited to the first 18 paid entries. Composites are accepted but athletes have to have a mark in each event. Athletes may qualify with a composite of season bests from the 2024 outdoor season.  Note that the requirement for entry when using a composite score is higher than when using an actual multi-event score.  

• Relay splits may not be used for entry for individual events, even if they are FAT.

• Multiple entries by the same individual in the same event are not permitted.  If an entry mark is significantly superior to the Championship standard, the athlete must compete in the Championship race. 

Relay Qualifying:

• Championship and Emerging Elite relays must be made up of athletes who attend or attended the same high school.
• Club relays can be made up of athletes who compete for a Club team and include athletes from different schools.

• Relay teams must qualify with marks since January 1, 2024 the 2024 outdoor season.  Composite time will be allowed. Marks must be from open events, not relay events.

• For all relays, except the 4 x 100, FAT times from open outdoor events may be used as a team's entry time. FAT relay splits are not acceptable and cannot be used.

• Please include a link to results with entry. All marks are subject to verification by meet management. 

• When calculating composite times for relays that include 200-meter legs, those legs must be individual FAT verifiable results.

• When calculating composite relay times, no adjustments may be made for running starts.

Seeding

• Seed marks will not be accepted AFTER the entry deadline.
  
  

• Seeding decisions are made at the sole discretion of the Seeding Committee.

• Preference for heats and lanes will be given to relay teams that have an actual current season mark (versus a composite) where the actual and the composite are close.  Should a composite based on actual individual current season times be significantly faster than an actual relay times the composite will take precedence.  This decision will be made at the discretion of the seeding committee.

Updating Entries/Seed Marks

Once entry is accepted, if an athlete betters his or her mark, please go back into your registration and update seed. We will be notified when your mark is updated. If you have trouble updating a mark, email us at seeding@nationalscholastic.org with a link to the improved mark and we will update.  If the updated mark moves an athlete from Emerging Elite to Championship, we update the entry accordingly provided there is still room in the Championship section.

*Updates to marks for seeding purposes will be accepted until the registration site closes on Saturday, June 8th. Updates to marks will not be accepted after the registration site closes.

Conversions Used for Seeding

Communication about seeding decisions should be directed via email to: [email protected]