Weekend Preview: Road to the NCAA DII & NAIA Championships

It’s time to find out who is headed to the NCAA DII Cross Country Championships and the NAIA Cross Country Championships in 2023!

Regional championships will be held across the nation in NCAA DII, while conference championships dot the landscape in the NAIA.

From The USTFCCCA InfoZone: Meets & Results | USTFCCCA Scoreboard

Are you curious about qualification? We got you covered.

For NCAA DII:

• A total of 34 teams will be selected.
  • The top three teams from each regional meet will automatically advance to the championship finals (24 teams).
  • Ten at-large teams will be selected by the NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Committee.
• After the 34 selected teams have been determined, a minimum 24 additional individuals per gender are selected to compete at the NCAA Championships.
  • The top two individuals who are not part of a qualifying team will automatically advance to the championship (16 individuals).
  • All individuals who finish in the top five at the regional meet and are not part of a qualifying team automatically will advance to the championship.
  • The next eight individuals will be selected at-large.

For the NAIA:

• Each conference champion (21) earns an automatic berth to the national championships, provided there are six or more declared teams in the conference meet.
• For a conference to earn two auto berths to the national championships, 12 teams must finish the conference meet with five runners. The second automatic qualifier must be ranked in the top 30 in the final poll to be awarded automatic qualification (the 2023 final poll is to be released on Monday, Nov. 6) with the remaining positions of the 36-team field filled with at-large selections (and, sometimes, the host institution, which would be one of the 36 teams). Final fields are to be announced on the Tuesday after Monday’s final rankings.
• For each gender, individuals must qualify for the national championships at a post-season conference/CAC/ unaffiliated championship meet, based on the following standards:
  • Conference/CAC/unaffiliated groupings of 12 or more teams
    • Top 6 finishers not on a qualifying team (automatic or at-large)
    • Individual scoring finish must be 20th or better
  • Conference/CAC/unaffiliated groupings with 6-11 teams
    • Top 4 finishers not on a qualifying team (automatic or at-large)
    • Individual scoring finish must be 15th or better
  • Unaffiliated groupings of 5 or fewer teams
    • Top 2 finishers not on a qualifying team (at-large)
    • Individual scoring finish must be 8th or better

Got it? Good, because our head is still swimming.

Let’s see what meets we’re excited about this weekend.

Do we even need to say anything?

The Women’s 6k Championship, which starts at 9 am CT, is ridiculous. Six of the top-10 teams in the most recent National Coaches’ Poll are in the field, including four of the top-5. Seriously. Adams State has won every regional title dating back to 2012, the first year of the new-look South Central Region. Will the Grizzlies be tested in 2023? Possibly. All you need to do is look back at the 2022 edition of this meet. Adams State was pushed to the limit by Colo. School of Mines as the former only won by five points, 67-72. That being said, the Grizzlies rolled at the RMAC Championships back in October when they won the team title with 32 points, 24 fewer than the Orediggers.

The Men’s 10k Championship, second on the course at 10:15 am CT, features seven nationally-ranked programs – five from the top-10. Colo. School of Mines is the four-time defending regional champion and put on a masterclass of team racing last year when it amassed just 25 points. The Orediggers outclassed the field at the RMAC Championships, beating the same teams by at least 27 points (Adams State finished second with 59). All signs point toward another Colo. School of Mines victory, but it’s going to be a battle to see who earns the other two automatic bids.

Who will earn the other four automatic bids to the NCAA DII Championships?

We ask that, because – barring disaster – Grand Valley State is likely going to sweep the crowns for at least the 14th year in a row. The Lakers are just too dominant.

It will be a war of attrition in the Men’s 10k Championship, set to begin at 11:15 am CT. Three of the five teams ranked between Nos. 11-15 are entered, including No. 12 Lewis, No. 14 Saginaw Valley State and No. 15 Walsh. Even more notable is that two different teams held the No. 2 spot at some point of the season and FIVE different teams were No. 3: Saginaw Valley State in the Preseason, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 and Week 4, as well as Lewis in Week 5 and Week 6 in the former; Illinois-Springfield in the Preseason and Week 1, Michigan Tech in Week 2, Wayne State (Mich.) in Week 3 and Week 4, Walsh in Week 5; and Saginaw Valley State in Week 6 in the latter.

The Women’s 6k Championship, first on the course at 10 am CT, features both No. 9 Lewis and No. 16 Cedarville in the top-20, other than top-ranked Grand Valley State. The Flyers have peaked at the right time, soaring from No. 5 in the Preseason to No. 2 in Week 6. Cedarville has always been projected for one of the three automatic bids, sitting either second or third all season. Don’t count out Wayne State (Mich.), either, as it sits fourth in the region – but held the No. 2 or No. 3 spots until Week 2.

The Crossroads League should have no trouble advancing several teams to the NAIA Cross Country Championships on November 17. With a total of 11 top-25 programs between the Men’s and Women’s National Coaches’ Poll – including three top-10 squads – it’s easy to see why.

Indiana Wesleyan and Taylor (Ind.) are favored to win the team titles in their respective races. The Wildcats enter the meet ranked No. 1 nationally with several strong results under their belt, while the fourth-ranked Trojan women were ranked No. 1 all season until falling to fourth in Week 4.

It should be an exciting battle for the podium behind IWU and Taylor with six total programs ranked between Nos. 10-15. Goshen (Ind.) and Grace (Ind.) hope to double-dip with both the men’s and women’s squads in that realm.

We might also see the debut of Huntington (Ind.) star Addy Wiley, too.