WEEKEND PREVIEW: NCAA Division II Regionals

NEW ORLEANS – For NCAA Division II Cross Country teams, the national championships in Saint Leo, Florida, on November 19 are the ultimate goal.

To make that goal a reality, however, squads around the country will have to make it through the gauntlet that is Regional Championships this Saturday.

It all comes down to what happens on the course this Saturday in each of the eight regions per gender, as only a certain number of teams per region will make it to the Big Dance.

There are only automatic qualifiers; unlike the NCAA DI and DIII qualifying system, no teams will make it to NCAAs in DII on at-large berths. Either you make the cut on the course, or you don’t.

Some regions will be tougher to make it out of than others. Even though some regions like the Midwest, South Central, Central and West will be allowed upwards of six qualifiers, they also feature fields with upwards of eight teams appearing in the latest National Coaches’ Polls.

We take a look below at those regions around the country most hotly contested below. Information on all eight regional championships can be found on USTFCCCA’s Regional Championships Central page.

WOMEN’S MIDWEST

Evansville, Indiana | 11:45am CT

NCAA Championships bids available: 5
Team in most recent National Coaches’ Poll: 8

No regional championship race in the country this weekend – for either gender – features more nationally ranked teams duking it out for NCAA Championships bids than the women’s Midwest race.

With five of those teams currently ranked inside the top-11, there’s a very real possibility that at least one goes home without tickets to Saint Leo. Two seasons ago, a pair of top-14 teams in Southern Indiana and Northern Michigan left this same Evansville course empty handed after falling prey to upset bids.

GLIAC champion No. 2 Grand Valley headlines the field, followed by conference champs in their own right from the GLVC in No. 6 Southern Indiana and the G-MAC in No. 8 Cedarville. No. 10 Northern Michigan and No. 11 Hillsdale will also be looking to hold their top-five status within the region and safely advance.

No. 22 Bellarmine is the first team on the bubble entering the weekend, with the vote-receiving pair of Lewis and UW-Parkside also looking to usurp those top teams.

At the end of the day, at least three of these teams will be left on the outside looking in.

MEN’S MIDWEST

Evansville, Indiana | 10:30am CT

NCAA Championships bids available: 5
Team in most recent National Coaches’ Poll: 7

The men’s race in Evansville won’t be a cakewalk, either, with seven nationally ranked teams – six of which appeared in the top-25 – battling for five qualifying slots.

GLIAC champion No. 2 Grand Valley State and GLVC winner No. 7 Southern Indiana appear to be safe bets to make it through to NCAAs – the Lakers have advanced every year since 2002, while USI’s streak dates back to 2005 – but the final three spots are completely up in the air between a number of teams with far less recent championships experience.

No. 13 Saginaw Valley State is looking for its first berth since 2009, while No. 17 Hillsdale hasn’t gone to NCAAs as a team since 2004. It’s been even longer for No. 22 Lewis, having last qualified in 2001. No. 25 Bellarmine made it last in 2010, snapping a qualifying drought that dated back to 1982.

Of the nationally ranked teams in the region, vote-receiving Walsh has the most recent NCAA Championships experience; it made its first NCAA appearance in 2015.

Lurking just beyond the National Polls are a pair of teams with recent NCAA pedigree that will look to upend those upstart contenders in Ashland (three NCAA berths in the past five years) and UW-Parkside (first NCAA berth in 2015), as well as a Michigan Tech squad looking to make NCAAs for the first time since 1971.

WOMEN’S CENTRAL

Sioux Falls, South Dakota | 11:15am CT

NCAA Championships bids available: 4
Team in most recent National Coaches’ Poll: 6

Three times this year No. 3 U-Mary and No. 4 Minnesota Duluth have met; three times U-Mary has come out on top. While the ultimate goal of this weekend is to simply survive and advance to the NCAA Championships, it’s hard to set aside the brewing rivalry between these two teams.

Assuming both teams advance – U-Mary has qualified in five of the past seven seasons while UMD has gone in six of the past eight years – a fifth showdown with NCAA title and/or podium stakes on the line is in the works.

But that still leaves two spots between four teams that appeared in the post-conference championships National Poll. No. 19 Southwest Baptist has the pole position after winning the MIAA title, but three teams in the “receiving votes” category will make a run for at least one of those spots.

A berth by MSU Moorhead would be its first in program history, while Winona State and Pittsburg State last qualified in 2014 and 2012, respectively.

Looming at No. 7 in the region with a 10 consecutive NCAA appearances and a 2011 national title to its name is Augustana (S.D.). Though the Vikings struggled to a fifth-place finish at the NSIC Championships, that sort of national pedigree can never be completely ignored.

MEN’S WEST

Billings, Montana | 10am MT

NCAA Championships bids available: 5
Team in most recent National Coaches’ Poll: 6

Three top-10 teams headline the field in No. 4 Chico State, No. 6 Alaska Anchorage and No. 9 Cal Poly Pomona, with No. 11 UC San Diego not too far behind. Chico has made it to 17 NCAA meets in a row, while UAA has been to 10 of the past 11 and CPP is on a streak of three in a row.

UC San Diego is looking for its first berth since 2007 after finishing third in the CCAA, while PacWest champ No. 16 Cal Baptist is going for its third NCAA bid in the past four seasons.

No. 24 Simon Fraser is the odd team out at sixth in the region, though the Clan has gone to NCAAs in each of the past two seasons. Seventh-ranked Academy of Art will be running for its first-ever NCAA Championships appearance, while eighth-ranked Western Washington has a recent history of success in the postseason with NCAA berths in eight of the past nine seasons.

WOMEN’S SOUTH CENTRAL

Denver, Colorado | 11:15am MT

NCAA Championships bids available: 5
Team in most recent National Coaches’ Poll: 6

As sure as the sun sets and rises again the next morning, you can set your clock to defending national champion No. 1 Adams State and No. 5 Western State making it through to Saint Leo – neither team has missed an NCAA meet since 1992.

Who gets the remaining three spots, however? That’s a question that boils down to three teams very narrowly separated in the National Coaches’ Poll in No. 14 CSU-Pueblo, No. 15 Dallas Baptist and No. 17 UC-Colorado Springs, as well as vote-receiving Colorado Mines.

CSU-Pueblo and UC-Colorado Springs both scored 95 points at the RMAC Championships, with the tiebreak going to the ThunderWolves.

UCCS has more experience in the postseason with trips to NCAAs in three of the past four seasons, while CSU-Pueblo is seeking its first nationals berth. Colorado Mines has likewise been to NCAAs in three of the past four years.

Heartland Conference winner Dallas Baptist is looking to qualify for the second year in a row and the third time in program history.

MEN’S SOUTH CENTRAL

Denver, Colorado | 10am MT

NCAA Championships bids available: 5
Team in most recent National Coaches’ Poll: 6

It’s tempting to, like the women, automatically count Adams State and Western State among the qualifiers to the NCAA Championships. Western State has made it every year since 1992, while ASU only missed the 1995 meet during that same span.

But Western State finds itself in danger of missing its first NCAA meet as the fourth-ranked team in a region that only sends five to Saint Leo. The No. 10 Mountaineers trail defending national champ No. 1 Colorado Mines, No. 3 Adams State and No. 8 CSU-Pueblo.

No. 18 West Texas A&M and vote-receiving Chadron State are also in the mix.

Mines has gone to 11-straight NCAA meets, while CSU-Pueblo is going for its first NCAA berth.

West Texas A&M enters with a streak of three-in-a-row of its own, while Chadron State has also never qualified.