Meet Recap: 2024 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships

Champions were crowned on Saturday at the 2024 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships!

The meet was held at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wisconsin.

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

Even though there was no snow to add a hint of chaos to the 2024 NCAA Cross Country National Championships – as happened here in 2018 – the historic clashes provided more than enough excitement for everybody. 

BYU made it a sweep of team titles for the first time since 2004, when Colorado claimed both.

Men’s 10k Race

Despite an early-season loss to New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel at Pre-Nationals, defending champ Graham Blanks of Harvard was still the man to beat given his resume. Blanks ran a tactically-sound race this morning, responding to a series of moves before breaking the race open with just over 1k to go. 

Whether it was from Washington State’s Evans Kurui, BYU’s Casey Clinger, or Oklahoma State’s Brian Musau, Blanks was forced to respond to a number of strong moves from the trio before piggy-backing off of Musau’s surge to pull away for his second consecutive title. 

Blanks stopped the clock at 28:37.2, while a strong close from a one-shoed Samuel saw him cross in 28:38.9, as the pair replicated their finish from a year ago.

Furman’s Dylan Schubert, Arkansas’ Yaseen Abdalla and Oklahoma State’s Musau filled out the top-5 finishers, as the trio ran 28:39.6, 28:41.5, and 21:44.9, respectively.

In a race loaded with contenders, it was the tried-and-true BYU Cougars that snatched the team title away from Oklahoma State, as BYU took down Iowa State, 124-137, for their first team crown since 2019.

Women’s 6k Race

After suffering her first loss of the season at the South Region Championships, Alabama’s Doris Lemngole pulled away from New Mexico’s Pamela Kosgei and Florida’s Hilda Olemomoi.

The bulk of the race saw Lemngole, Kosgei, and Olemomoi stuck in the middle of a a crowded lead pack that didn’t break open until the final kilometer.

Eventually, Lemngole was able to separate herself from the pair of challengers, ultimately crossing in 19:21.0, while Kosgei and Olemomoi crossed in 19:17.9 and 19:28.7, respectively.  

Stanford’s Amy Bunnage (19:31.1) was fourth in her second race of the year, while NC State’s Grace Hartman was fifth in 19:39.5.

Led by Lexy Halladay-Lowry in 14th, the BYU women won their second title since 2020, holding off West Virginia, 147-164. Providence and Northern Arizona finished third and fourth with 183 and 206 points, while Oregon (210) and Stanford (213) were the first two teams left off of the podium.