Weekend Preview: Championships Galore In Collegiate Cross Country

It’s a big weekend in collegiate cross country!

From The USTFCCCA InfoZone: Conference Championships Central

We’ll see five conference championships at the NCAA Division I level as well as a major regional championship featuring top-ranked NJCAA programs.

Keep reading to find out what to look for this weekend.

NCAA Division I Conference Championships Weekend

Five conferences hold their championships this weekend between Friday and Saturday: ACC, Big 12, Conference USA, SEC and the Sun Belt.

ACC Cross Country Championships

Date: Friday, October 30 | Location: WakeMed Soccer Park (Cary, N.C.)
Times: Men’s 8K Race – 10 am ET, Women’s 6K Race – 11 am ET
CLICK HERE FOR LIVE RESULTS FROM THE MEET

WakeMed Soccer Park hosts the ACC Cross Country Championships this weekend for the third time since 2009. Eleven years ago, the NC State men and Florida State women captured team titles; Syracuse’s men and NC State’s women reigned seven years later in 2016.

It’s fitting that the Orange and Wolfpack come up, because they’ve been dominant at the ACC meet in recent memory. Dating back to 2016, Syracuse has won three of the past four men’s titles (2018 as the only outlier), while NC State snagged each of the past four women’s crowns.

Based on results from this season and the most recent National Coaches’ Polls, you’d be hard-pressed to discount the fourth-ranked Wolfpack’s chances at making it five in a row on the women’s side, a feat that hasn’t been done since Florida State strung together seven consecutive crowns from 2007 to 2013. NC State rolled to a pair of victories this season at the Virginia Tech Invitational (15 points) and the Wolfpack Invitational (24 points) with a potent 1-2 punch at the top of its lineup in the guise of Dominique Clairmonte and Hannah Steeleman.

Notre Dame appears to be the four-time defending champion’s toughest challenger. The Irish also picked up two wins, including a strong effort at the Louisville Cross Country Classic where it put five runners in the top-15 and held off a trio of SEC programs, led by Ole Miss.

Speaking of Notre Dame, its men are favored to win its second title in the past three years thanks to returning all seven of its scorers from one year ago. Remember how we said earlier that 2018 was the only outlier for Syracuse? Yeah. That was the Irish’s year.

Notre Dame might have only had one race this fall during the regular season, but looked quite strong during it. 2019 ACC runner-up Yared Nuguse led an Irish sweep at the Irish Classic back in September as six of his teammates finished within eight seconds of each other behind him.

Virginia looks to win its first conference title since 2008 and will be led by two-time National Athlete of the Week Rohann Asfaw. The senior is undefeated this fall and paced the Cavaliers to team titles at the Virginia Invitational (26 points), Wolfpack Invitational (28 points) and finally the Panorama Invitational (26 points).

Big 12 Cross Country Championships

Date: Friday, October 30 | Location: Rim Rock Farm (Lawrence, Kan.)
Times: Men’s 8K Race – 10 am CT, Women’s 6K Race – 11 am CT
CLICK HERE FOR LIVE RESULTS FROM THE MEET

Four years separate Oklahoma State’s men from its last conference title.

Two points kept Texas’ women from their first crown in program history last year.

If results from this season and the most recent National Coaches’ Poll has any indication on what is going to transpire on Friday at the Big 12 Cross Country Championships in Lawrence, Kansas, both the Cowboys and Longhorns could be poised to hoist first-place trophies.

Fifth-ranked Oklahoma State takes on two other ranked teams in the men’s race – No. 10 Iowa State and No. 24 Texas. The Cowboys most recently finished a game runner-up to top-ranked Northern Arizona at the OSU Invitational, where six points decided the winner. And two weeks before that, Oklahoma State defeated Iowa State and five other conference foes at the Cowboy Jamboree (The Cowboys put five runners in the top-7 for a 23-point score).

Expect a great battle for the individual title between Wesley Kiptoo of Iowa State and Isai Rodriguez of Oklahoma State, among others. It was back in early October when Kiptoo beat Rodriguez head-to-head at the Cowboy Jamboree and set a since-broken course record at the OSU Cross Country Course (Luis Grijalva of Northern Arizona lowered it two weeks ago).

No. 24 Texas has the lone ranked squad in the women’s race. The Longhorns last competed at the Arturo Barrios Invitational hosted by Texas A&M and cruised to a 29-point win. Texas took five of the top-10 spots, led by a 1-2 finish by Beth Ramos and Madeline Vondra. Claudine Blancaflor, the top Longhorn at the conference meet last year, finished fifth overall.

While neither Iowa State nor Oklahoma State is ranked on the women’s side, it would be tough to rule them out of the running for a conference title. After all, the pedigree is there as they have traded off each of the past nine titles. Two-time defending champion Cailie Logue will lead the Cyclones and is a favorite to win the individual title, while Taylor Roe has posted back-to-back runner-up finishes against talented competition and should pace the Cowgirls.

SEC Cross Country Championships

Date: Friday, October 30 | Location: LSU University Club (Baton Rouge, La.)
Times: Women’s 6K Race – 9:05 am CT, Men’s 8K Race – 10 am CT
CLICK HERE FOR LIVE RESULTS FROM THE MEET

A dynasty continued and a return to prominence.

That is what Arkansas hopes will happen tomorrow at the conclusion of the SEC Cross Country Championships, hosted by LSU at the University Club Golf Course in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The Razorback women, who were ranked No. 1 in the most recent National Coaches’ Poll, have won each of the past seven conference titles dating back to 2013. It hasn’t been close, either, as Arkansas has scored an average of 22.5 points in their past two victories.

Through two meets this season, the Razorback have been as strong as ever. Arkansas swept the SEC Preview Meet back in September, scored 20 points at the Gans Creek Classic a few weeks later and then romped to a 62-point victory at the UAB Blazer Classic two weeks ago.

While a Razorback triumph might be a near foregone conclusion in the team race, the battle for the individual title is going to be electric. Sarah Chapman of Missouri, Taylor Ewert and Lauren Gregory of Arkansas, Jenna Gearing of Kentucky and Katie Thronson of Tennessee have all established themselves as contenders for the crown with their performances this season.

On the men’s side, the third-ranked Razorbacks are looking to win their first conference title in three years. Arkansas, which reeled off 27 consecutive titles between 1991 and 2017, finished runner-up in each of the past two years to Ole Miss. It just so happens that the Rebels are the only other nationally-ranked team in the mix at No. 19.

The Razorbacks own two wins over Ole Miss this season, most recently at the UAB Blazer Classic in Birmingham, Alabama. It was in the Yellowhammer State where Arkansas used a miniscule 13-second spread to beat the Rebels by 21 points, 29-50.

Expect a thrilling race for the men’s team title, if recent results are any indication. Just a few weeks ago at the UAB Blazer Classic, champion Amon Kemboi of Arkansas, runner-up Marco Garcia Romo of Ole Miss, third-place finisher Cole Bullock of Ole Miss and fourth-place finisher Emmanuel Cheboson of Arkansas all finished within one second of each other.

The meet will be aired LIVE on the SEC Network.

Conference USA Cross Country Championships

Date: Saturday, October 31 | Location: Veterans Park (Birmingham, Ala.)
Times: Women’s 6K Race – 9 am CT, Men’s 8K Race – 10 am CT
CLICK HERE FOR LIVE RESULTS FROM THE MEET

Parity has been the buzzword at the Conference USA Cross Country Championships.

Dating back to 2016, four different women’s programs and three different men’s programs have won conference titles: Middle Tennessee (2019), UTEP (2018), Charlotte (2017) and Rice (2016) topped the podium on the women’s side; Middle Tennessee (2019 & 2017), North Texas (2018) and UTEP (2016) reigned on the men’s side in that span.

If you scored last year’s meet using expected returning athletes in 2020, it appears as if that parity would continue on the men’s side with Charlotte being the favorite to win its first C-USA crown since 2002. Paul Arredondo, the fifth-place finisher at the conference meet last year, has led the 49ers throughout the fall segment with commanding back-to-back victories at the Mountain to Sea CC Meet (18 seconds) and the Louisville Cross Country Classic (six seconds).

Middle Tennessee is the favorite on the women’s side, especially with defending champion Eusila Chepkemei and Joice Jebor providing low sticks, among others. Chepkemei won by eight seconds last year over UTEP’s Winnie Koech with Jebor not too far behind in third place.

Sun Belt Cross Country Championships

Date: Saturday, October 31 | Location: Mobile Aeroplex (Mobile, Ala.)
Times: Women’s 5K Race – 10 am CT, Men’s 8K Race – 11 am CT
CLICK HERE FOR LIVE RESULTS FROM THE MEET

Strength in numbers.

Appalachian State’s men and Arkansas State’s women, both of whom were preseason favorites to repeat as conference champions, hope that a wealth of returning talent leads them to the top of the podium at the Sun Belt Conference Championships on Saturday in Mobile, Alabama.

We’ll start with the Mountaineers, who won two conference titles in the past three years. App State welcomes back all seven runners from its championship squad in 2019, including three men who finished in the top-10 – Isaac Benz (fourth), Ryan Brown (fifth) and Oliver Wilson-Cook (10th). So far this season, the Mountaineers have run well, including most recently at the Blue Ridge Open CC Meet, where they swept Marshall, 15-50.

The Red Wolves, who earned their first conference title since 2013 last year, have six athletes back from that squad. Five of those returning athletes finished in the top-20 in 2019, including runner-up Pauline Meyer. Arkansas State hasn’t been shy about racing strong competition this year as it most recently sent athletes to the UAB Blazer Classic as well as the Little Rock Open.

NJCAA Region VI Cross Country Championships

Date: Friday, October 30 | Location: Butler CC (El Dorado, Kan.)
Times: Women’s 5K Race – 12 pm CT, Men’s 8K Race – 1 pm CT
CLICK HERE FOR LIVE RESULTS FROM THE MEET

There is ample reason to be excited about the NJCAA Region VI Cross Country Championships on Friday in El Dorado, Kansas: Actually, we can think of 18 of them.

That’s how many ranked teams will be in action between the Women’s 5K Race at noon CT and the Men’s 8K Race set to begin an hour later on the campus of Butler (Kan.) Community College.

A battle between five top-10 teams in the most recent NJCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll headlines the first race with No. 2 Cloud County (Kan.) CC, No. 3 Colby (Kan.) CC, No. 6 Hutchinson (Kan.) CC, No. 7 Dodge City (Kan.) CC and No. 10 Butler (Kan.) CC all in the mix. Also in the field from the NJCAA Division I level are No. 13 Fort Scott (Kan.) CC, No. 15 Barton (Kan.) CC and No. 18 Coffeyville (Kan.) CC. You also can’t forget about the top-ranked NJCAA Division II program Cowley (Kan.) CC.

Four top-10 teams in the most recent NJCAA Division I Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll take to the course in the closer: No. 4 Hutchinson (Kan.) CC, No. 5 Cloud County (Kan.) CC, No. 6 Butler (Kan.) CC and No. 8 Colby (Kan.) CC. Also in the field from the NJCAA DI level are No. 12 Highland (Kan.) CC, No. 14 Fort Scott (Kan.) CC and No. 15 Dodge City (Kan.) CC. You’ll also see two top-3 NJCAA Division II teams mix it up: No. 2 Allen (Kan.) CC and No. 3 Cowley (Kan.) CC.