WEEKEND PREVIEW: NCAA DII Conference Championships

NEW ORLEANS – Postseason cross country has arrived in NCAA Division II.

Conference championships will be contested around the nation this weekend, with a majority of titles set to be determined Saturday.

Perhaps nowhere will the battle for conference supremacy be as hard-fought as Spearfish, South Dakota, for the RMAC Championships. A nation-best five top-25 men’s teams and four top-25 women’s teams will square off at the Spearfish Canyon Country Club, including the top-ranked men and defending national champion women of Adams State and the defending national champion No. 3 Colorado Mines men.

Adams State’s men will tangle with three other top-10 squads in Mines, No. 6 Western State and No. 8 CSU-Pueblo, as well as No. 13 Black Hills State. A victory here won’t automatically be the first step on the road to a national title, however. ASU claimed the title a year ago before Mines went on to win the national crown a month later.

The reigning national and RMAC champion women of Adams State will face No. 4 Western State, No. 11 UC-Colorado Springs and No. 21 CSU-Pueblo, in addition to vote-receiving Colorado Mines.

The GLIAC isn’t too far behind in terms of national representation, as a combined seven national top-25 teams will see one another in Big Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday.

The No. 2 Grand Valley State men have three other top-25 squads to deal with in No. 11 Hillsdale, No. 15 Saginaw Valley State and No. 21 Walsh. The Lakers have won 14 GLIAC titles in a row.

GVSU’s No. 2 women – winners of 15 straight GLIAC crowns – will face off with No. 10 Northern Michigan, No. 12 Hillsdale and vote-receiving Walsh.

Top-10 battles are brewing elsewhere around the nation, too.

Saturday’s NSIC Championships in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, will pit women’s No. 3 U-Mary and No. 5 Minnesota Duluth against one another, while the CCAA Championships on Saturday will featured a top-five men’s battle between No. 4 Chico State and No. 5 Cal Poly Pomona.

The Chico men haven’t lost the CCAA title since winning their first in 2002, while Cal Poly Pomona has gone since 1997 without winning.

The full breakdown of which conferences championships will feature two or more nationally ranked teams in either genders’ race can be found below.