NBNI 2026 Championship

Team Competition

How It Works

For the first time ever, New Balance Nationals Indoor 2026 will crown Boy’s and Girl’s National Championship Teams.

The competition will be scored across designated Championship events.

Team Eligibility

  • Every athlete is considered part of a team for scoring purposes.
  • Athletes entered as unattached, score as a single-athlete team under their own name.
  • Athletes entered under a high school or school-based team score for that school.
  • A team must consist of all athletes from the same high school to be considered for the
    team competition.

    • If a team has athletes from different schools,
      they will be ineligible for team scoring and will not show up in team scoring.

Events That Count

  • All Championship finals both on the track and in the field count toward team scoring.

Scoring Method

  • Scoring is 8 places deep in every Championship event.
  • Point breakdown: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1
  • Team standings are determined by total points scored across all Championship finals
  • The mixed relay will be doubled scored: Points will be awarded to both boys and
    girls teams.

Unattached Athletes

  • Unattached athletes are eligible to score team points as single-athlete teams.
  • An unattached athlete may win the team title if they score the highest total points across events.

Team Awards

  • Top 3 teams for each gender will receive trophies.
  • The Championship Team Champion for each gender will receive:
    • New Balance Nationals Indoor Championship Trophy
    • New Balance Nationals Indoor Championship hats and shirts

Tie-Breaker Procedure

  • If two or more teams are tied in total points, the tie will be broken using highest single-event finishes.
  • The team with the best individual finish wins the tie (for example, 1st place beats 2nd place).
  • If still tied, the next-best finish is compared.
  • This process continues by comparing finishes in descending order until the tie is resolved.

Example 1:
Team A and Team B are tied with 38 points.
Team A’s best finish is 1st place.
Team B’s best finish is 2nd place.

Team A wins the tie.

Example 2:
Team A and Team B are tied with 38 points and both have a 1st-place finish.
Team A has two 1st-place finishes.
Team B has one 1st-place finish and one 2nd-place finish.

Team A wins the tie.