The XC is held each June on a 5-kilometer cross-country trail on Marshall Mountain just a few miles east of town. Horan, who will work with USA Cycling to design the course, said nationals will also be on Marshall and will feature several disciplines of cross-country racing as well as downhill.

"It's fun to see bike racing in this part of the state grow organically into something on the national and international scale," he added. "It's indicative of some really exciting mountain biking developments in Missoula."

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Missoula's bid for the college national races beat out a similar proposal from Angel Fire, New Mexico, a small resort town north of Sante Fe that previously hosted the event in 2011 and 2012.

The championships have also been held previously at Truckee, California in 2009-10, at Beech Mountain, North Carolina in 2013-14 and at Snowshoe Mountain, West Virginia this past fall and this upcoming October.

Missoula's bid package was selected as a finalist last year with representatives from USA Cycling visiting in the fall, said Mary Holmes, director of sales and services with Destination Missoula.