Meet Recap: 2023 NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships

Champions were crowned on Friday at the 2023 NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships!

The meet was held at Big Springs High School in Newville, Pennsylvania.

From The USTFCCCA InfoZone: Meets & Results | USTFCCCA Scoreboard
Related: National Championships Central | Rankings & Polls Central

Men’s 8k Race

Good things come to those who wait, and as hundreds of spectators and athletes stood with bated breath at the Big Springs High School course for the results to finally trickle through, celebration erupted for the Sagehens as Pomona-Pitzer emerged triumphant to take home a shocking title over UW-La Crosse by just one point. 

Pomona-Pitzer, ranked eighth in the final National Coaches Poll before the championships, charged out over hill and dale early to secure positioning, sitting third in the team race at the mile mark. Led by Lucas Florsheim and Derek Fearon in ninth and tenth individually, the Sagehens went 9-10-22-24-93 for 158 points. This is their third team national title since their back-to-back wins in 2019 and 2021. 

The UW-La Crosse Eagles sat in tenth place after the first mile, but moved up steadily in the ensuing race to propel themselves to fourth at the two-mile point and into the lead at 6k. Joey Sullivan mounted an impressive final 2k to improve 20 places. Boosted by an individual national champion, the Eagles improved six positions from 2022’s eighth-place mark.

North Central (Ill.) placed third in their first return to the podium since 2019, led by a senior squad going 3-15-16-64-71, and an excellent third-place highlight finish from Max Svienty, who turned in a textbook performance to improve from his 158th-place finish at the 2022 meet. 

Williams returned to the podium in fourth, a two-place improvement from the Ephs’ 2022 sixth-place finish. John Lucey remained in the top ten individually the entire race, eventually claiming the sixth-place individual spot to lead his team. 

Ethan Gregg of UW-La Crosse took home the individual title doing what he does best-taking the race by the horns and never letting up. Boasting a seven-second lead at the first mile (4:38), Gregg continued to roll and deservedly secured his first individual cross country title in 24:02, a new course record. 

Women’s 6k Race

Are we out of the woods yet? The women’s race kept spectators on the edge of their seats as runners funneled across the line and final scores matriculated, and a four-way battle was being waged in the forests of Newville. When all was said and done, a margin of just seven points separated all four podium teams, and Carleton emerged as the champions. 

Carleton secured their first-ever national championship, and improved three places since year’s fourth-place finish. They were led by Hannah Preisser’s six-place surge forward over the last kilometer to lead the rest of the team 13-15-34-38-51, and the Knights improved 23 points over the last kilometer to leap into the lead. 

Top-ranked NYU finished a close runner-up to Carleton – and by close, we mean one point. The Violets saw two athletes finish among the top-15 individuals: Grace Richardson (ninth) and Morgan Uhihorn (15th).

No. 5 UChicago and No. 6 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps were third and fourth, respectively. The Maroons amassed 156 points, two more than NYU and two fewer than the Athenas. No. 3 SUNY Geneseo rounded out the top-5 teams in fifth place behind Peneolpe Greene’s third-place showing.

Fiona Smith of Saint Benedict earned top individual honors in 19:54.1. Smith became the first NCAA DIII female athlete to go sub-20 minutes at the NCAA Championships and won by more than one minute.