Weekend Preview: Top Teams Square Off Across The Nation

We’re getting spoiled as cross country fans.

And it’s only September.

From The USTFCCCA InfoZone: Meets & Results | USTFCCCA Scoreboard

Just this past weekend, we got some colossal matchups at the Virginia Invitational between top-ranked programs from NCAA DI: 14 top-30 men’s teams and ten top-30 women’s teams went head-to-head in their respective races on the challenging Panorama Farms course, including six top-10 men’s teams and four top-10 women’s teams. When the mud* settled, Northern Arizona swept both the individual titles and team titles with Drew Bosley leading the No. 1 men and Elise Stearns pacing the second-ranked women (*We’d say dust, but it was raining that morning).

One week later, top programs from NCAA DII – as well as those in NCAA DIII and the NAIA and NJCAA – have their turn, especially at the Live in the Lou Cross Country Classic.

Four top-10 NCAA DII squads from both the Men’s and Women’s National Coaches’ Polls will compete in the Gold races on Saturday: No. 2 Adams State, No. 4 Grand Valley State, No. 7 West Texas A&M and No. 9 Lee (Tenn.) in men’s race at 9:30am ET; No. 1 Adams State, No. 2 Grand Valley State, No. 5 UC-Colorado Springs and No. 10 Lee (Tenn.) in the women’s race 45 minutes later. NCAA DIII No. 2 North Central (Ill.) is also among those teams in the men’s race looking to impress.

Don’t overlook the Chile Pepper Festival one day earlier in Fayetteville, Arkansas. That’s where NJCAA DI No. 1 Trinidad State (Colo.) matches up with NCAA DI No. 22 Arkansas and NCAA DII No. 11 Western Colorado in the College Men’s “McDonnell Memorial” 8K and NCAA DI No. 20 Arkansas takes on NCAA DII No. 6 Western Colorado in the College Women’s “Harter’s Habanero” 5K. Several other ranked NJCAA DI programs are in the earlier races, like the NJCAA DI No. 10 Iowa Central men and the NJCAA DI No. 7 Butler (Kan.) CC women, among others.

You also have the Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Saturday will see NCAA DI No. 7 Villanova, NCAA DII No. 3 Wingate, NCAA DIII No. 3 UW-La Crosse, NCAA DIII No. 6 SUNY Geneseo and NCAA DIII No. 9 Carnegie Mellon in the College Men’s Gold 8k with No. 5 Johns Hopkins, No. 6 SUNY Geneseo and No. 8 UW-La Crosse in the College Women’s Gold 6k. That doesn’t count the ensuing Brown or White editions, either, which feature more ranked programs.

Remember that’s it’s only September.

This season will continue to get better.