Each autumn since 1938, with the exception of 1943, the National Collegiate Athletic Association has hosted men's cross country championships. Since 1958, the NCAA has had multiple division championships. Since 1973, Divisions I, II and III have all had their own national championships. Teams and individual runners qualify for the championship at regional competitions approximately a week before the national championships, typically held in November.
Qualifying [ edit ]
Teams compete in one of nine regional championships to qualify, where the top two teams automatically advance and thirteen additional teams are chosen as at-large selections. In addition to the 31 teams, 38 individual runners qualify for the national championship.[ 1]
History [ edit ]
The field for the Division I national championship race has ranged in size from a low of 6 teams in 1938 to a high of 39 teams in 1970. From 1982 to 1997 the field was fixed at 22 teams. Beginning in 1998, the national championship race has included 31 teams.
The race distance from 1938 to 1964 was 4 miles (6.4 km). From 1965 to 1975 the race distance was 6 miles (9.7 km). Since 1976 the race distance has been 10,000 meters (6.2 mi).[ 2]
Champions [ edit ]
Prior to 1958, only a single national championship was held between all members of the NCAA; Division II started in 1958 and Division III in 1973.[ 3]
The race distance was 4 miles from 1938 to 1964, 6 miles from 1965 to 1975, and 10,000 meters from 1976 to the present.
NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship
Year
Host City
(Host Team)
Team Championship
Individual Championship
Winner
Points
Runner-up
Points
Winner
(Team)
Time
1938
Details
East Lansing, MI
(Michigan State )
Indiana
51
Notre Dame
61
Greg Rice
(Notre Dame )
20:12.9
1939
Details
Michigan State
54
Wisconsin
57
Walter Mehl
(Wisconsin )
20:30.9
1940
Details
Indiana
65
Eastern Michigan
68
Gil Dodds
(Ashland )
20:30.2
1941
Details
Rhode Island
83
Penn State
110
Fred Wilt
(Indiana )
20:32.1
1942
Details
Indiana
Penn State
57
Rhode Island
79
Oliver Hunter
(Notre Dame )
20:18.0
1943
Not Held due to World War II
1944
Details
East Lansing, MI
(Michigan State )
Drake
25
Notre Dame
64
Fred Feiler
(Drake )
21:04.2
1945
Details
Drake
50
Notre Dame
65
Fred Feiler
(Drake )
21:14.2
1946
Details
Drake
42
NYU
98
Quentin Brelsford
(Ohio Wesleyan )
20:22.9
1947
Details
Penn State
60
Syracuse
72
Jack Milne
(North Carolina )
20:41.1
1948
Details
Michigan State
41
Wisconsin
69
Robert Black
(Rhode Island )
19:52.3
1949
Details
Michigan State
59
Syracuse
81
Robert Black
(Rhode Island )
20:25.7
1950
Details
Penn State
53
Michigan State
55
Herb Semper
(Kansas )
20:31.7
1951
Details
Syracuse
80
Kansas
118
Herb Semper
(Kansas )
20:09.5
1952
Details
Michigan State
65
Indiana
68
Charles Capozzoli
(Georgetown )
19:36.7
1953
Details
Kansas
70
Indiana
82
Wes Santee
(Kansas )
19:43.5
1954
Details
Oklahoma State
61
Syracuse
118
Allen Frame
(Kansas )
19:54.2
1955
Details
Michigan State
46
Kansas
68
Charles Jones
(Iowa )
19:57.4
1956
Details
Michigan State
28
Kansas
88
Walter McNew
(Texas )
19:55.7
1957
Details
Notre Dame
121
Michigan State
127
Max Truex
(USC )
19:12.3 †
1958
Details
Michigan State
79
Western Michigan
104
Crawford Kennedy
(Michigan State )
20:07.1
1959
Details
Michigan State
44
Houston
120
Al Lawrence
(Houston )
20:35.7
1960
Details
Houston
54
Michigan State
80
Al Lawrence
(Houston )
19:28.2
1961
Details
Oregon State
68
San Jose State
82
Dale Story
(Oregon State )
19:46.6
1962
Details
San Jose State
58
Villanova
69
Tom O'Hara
(Loyola–Chicago )
19:20.3
1963
Details
San Jose State
53
Oregon
68
Victor Zwolak
(Villanova )
19:35.0
1964
Details
Western Michigan
86
Oregon
116
Elmore Banton
(Ohio )
20:07.5
The race distance changes from 4 miles to 6 miles
1965
Details
Lawrence, KS
(Kansas )
Western Michigan
81
Northwestern
114
John Lawson
(Kansas )
29:24.0
1966
Details
Villanova
79
Kansas State
155
Gerry Lindgren
(Washington State )
29:01.4
1967
Details
Laramie, WY
(Wyoming )
Villanova
91
Air Force
96
Gerry Lindgren
(Washington State )
30:45.6
1968
Details
Bronx, NY
(Manhattan )
Villanova
78
Stanford
100
Michael Ryan
(Air Force )
29:16.8
1969
Details
UTEP
74
Villanova
88
Gerry Lindgren
(Washington State )
28:59.2
1970
Details
Williamsburg, VA
(William & Mary )
Villanova
85
Oregon
86
Steve Prefontaine
(Oregon )
28:00.2 †
1971
Details
Knoxville, TN
(Tennessee )
Oregon
83
Washington State
122
Steve Prefontaine
(Oregon )
29:14.0
1972
Details
Houston, TX
(Houston )
Tennessee
134
East Tennessee State
148
Neil Cusack
(East Tennessee State )
28:23.0
1973
Details
Pullman, WA
(Washington State )
Oregon
89
UTEP
157
Steve Prefontaine
(Oregon )
28:14.8
1974
Details
Bloomington, IN
(Indiana )
Oregon
77
Western Kentucky
110
Nick Rose
(Western Kentucky )
29:22.00
1975
Details
State College, PA
(Penn State )
UTEP
88
Oregon
92
Craig Virgin
(Illinois )
28:23.3
*The race distance changes from 6 miles to 10 kilometers
1976
Details
Denton, TX
(North Texas )
UTEP
62
Oregon
117
Henry Rono
(Washington State )
28:06.6 †
1977
Details
Pullman, WA
(Washington State )
Oregon
100
UTEP
105
Henry Rono
(Washington State )
28:33.5
1978
Details
Madison, WI
(Wisconsin )
UTEP
56
Oregon
72
Alberto Salazar
(Oregon )
29:29.7
1979
Details
Bethlehem, PA
(Lehigh )
UTEP
86
Oregon
93
Henry Rono
(Washington State )
28:19.6
1980
Details
Wichita, KS
(Wichita State )
UTEP
58
Arkansas
152
Suleiman Nyambui
(UTEP )
29:04.0
1981
Details
Wichita, KS
(Wichita State )
UTEP
17
Providence
109
Matthews Motshwarateu
(UTEP )
28:45.6
1982
Details
Bloomington, IN
(Indiana )
Wisconsin
59
Providence
138
Mark Scrutton
(Colorado )
30:12.6
1983
Details
Bethlehem, PA
(Lehigh )
(Vacated)
108
Wisconsin
164
Zakarie Barie
(UTEP )
29:20.0
1984
Details
State College, PA
(Penn State )
Arkansas
101
Arizona
111
Ed Eyestone
(BYU )
29:28.8
1985
Details
Milwaukee, WI
(Marquette )
Wisconsin
67
Arkansas
104
Tim Hacker
(Wisconsin )
29:17.88
1986
Details
Tucson, AZ
(Arizona )
Arkansas
69
Dartmouth
141
Aaron Ramirez
(Arizona )
30:27.53
1987
Details
Charlottesville, VA
(Virginia )
Arkansas
87
Dartmouth
119
Joe Falcon
(Arkansas )
29:14.97
1988
Details
Ames, IA
(Iowa State )
Wisconsin
105
Northern Arizona
160
Bob Kennedy
(Indiana )
29:20.00
1989
Details
Annapolis, MD
(Navy )
Iowa State
54
Oregon
72
John Nuttall
(Iowa State )
29:30.55
1990
Details
Knoxville, TN
(Tennessee )
Arkansas
68
Iowa State
96
Jonah Koech
(Iowa State )
29:05
1991
Details
Tucson, AZ
(Arizona )
Arkansas
52
Iowa State
114
Sean Dollman
(Western Kentucky )
30:17.1
1992
Details
Bloomington, IN
(Indiana )
Arkansas
46
Wisconsin
87
Bob Kennedy
(Indiana )
30:15.3
1993
Details
Bethlehem, PA
(Lehigh )
Arkansas
31
BYU
153
Josephat Kapkory
(Washington State )
29:32.4
1994
Details
Fayetteville, AR
(Arkansas )
Iowa State
65
Colorado
88
Martin Keino
(Arizona )
30:08.7
1995
Details
Ames, IA
(Iowa State )
Arkansas
100
Northern Arizona
142
Godfrey Siamusiye
(Arkansas )
30:09
1996
Details
Tucson, AZ
(Arizona )
Stanford
46
Arkansas
74
Godfrey Siamusiye
(Arkansas )
29:49
1997
Details
Greenville, SC
(Furman )
Stanford
53
Arkansas
56
Mebrahtom Keflezighi
(UCLA )
28:54
1998
Details
Lawrence, KS
(Kansas )
Arkansas
97
Stanford
114
Adam Goucher
(Colorado )
29:26.9
1999
Details
Bloomington, IN
(Indiana )
Arkansas
58
Wisconsin
185
David Kimani
(South Alabama )
30:06.6
2000
Details
Ames, IA
(Iowa State )
Arkansas
83
Colorado
94
Keith Kelly
(Providence )
30:14.5
2001
Details
Greenville, SC
(Furman )
Colorado
90
Stanford
91
Boaz Cheboiywo
(Eastern Michigan )
28:47
2002
Details
Terre Haute, IN
(Indiana State )
Stanford
47
Wisconsin
107
Jorge Torres
(Colorado )
29:04.7
2003
Details
Cedar Rapids, IA
(Northern Iowa )
Stanford
24
Wisconsin
147
Dathan Ritzenhein
(Colorado )
29:14.1
2004
Details
Terre Haute, IN
(Indiana State )
Colorado
90
Wisconsin
94
Simon Bairu
(Wisconsin )
30:37.7
2005
Details
Wisconsin
37
Arkansas
105
Simon Bairu
(Wisconsin )
29:15.9
2006
Details
Colorado
94
Wisconsin
142
Josh Rohatinsky
(BYU )
30:44.9
2007
Details
Oregon
85
Iona
113
Josh McDougal
(Liberty )
29:22.4
2008
Details
Oregon
93
Iona
147
Galen Rupp
(Oregon )
29:03.2
2009
Details
Oklahoma State
127
Oregon
143
Sam Chelanga
(Liberty )
28:41.3
2010
Details
Oklahoma State
73
Florida State
193
Sam Chelanga
(Liberty )
29:22.2
2011
Details
Wisconsin
97
Oklahoma State
139
Lawi Lalang
(Arizona )
28:44.1
2012
Details
Louisville, KY
(Louisville )
Oklahoma State
72
Wisconsin
135
Kennedy Kithuka
(Texas Tech )
28:31.3
2013
Details
Terre Haute, IN
(Indiana State )
Colorado
149
Northern Arizona
169
Edward Cheserek
(Oregon )
29:41.1
2014
Details
Colorado
65
Stanford
98
Edward Cheserek
(Oregon )
30:19.4
2015
Details
Louisville, KY
(Louisville )
A time highlighted in ██ indicates a NCAA championship record time for that distance at the time.
A † indicates the all-time NCAA championship record for that distance.
UTEP 's 1983 championship was vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions.
Appearances [ edit ]
Most team appearances (top 15) [ edit ]
Records [ edit ]
Best Team Score: 17
Most Individual Titles: 3 (tie)
Best Individual Time, 4 miles: 19:21.3
Best Individual Time, 6 miles: 28:00.2
Best Individual Time, 10,000 meters: 28:06.6
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
External links [ edit ]
NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
Pre-NCAA
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
NCAA Championships
Records and Statistics
Championships
Meetings
World events