Division I Men’s Regional Championship Overview

NEW ORLEANS – Next weekend may hold in store the most spectacular cross country day of the year — the NCAA Division I Championships November 22 in Terre Haute, Indiana — but in order to make it to the big dance, you’ve got to make it through the most important day: regional championships.

Regional Championships Info Division I Regionals Overviews MEN | WOMEN Breaking Down NCAA Qualifying Scenarios MEN | WOMEN Can’t be at any regional championship meets this weekend? Will you be at one and want to contribute to the national conversation? Check out the USTFCCCA National Results Wall! Want to hear what some of this weekend’s biggest players have to say? Give the USTFCCCA QA₂ Max Podcast a listen!

For whatever NCAA dreams teams may have, they are all for naught if their performances on the course this Friday turn nightmarish.

While some teams near the top of the National Coaches’ Polls have their NCAA Championship berths all but sewed up leading into the nine regional meets this Friday, for still so many others this is a make-or-break type of day.

Just to recap what’s at stake here: the top two teams in each region automatically advance to the NCAA Championships (18 teams total).

The remaining 13 teams are selected one-at-a-time based on head-to-head performances against teams already in the NCAA Championships field.

For a more nuanced explanation of the qualifying criteria, we break it down for you here and (more metaphorically) here.

When the dust clears on the full 31-team field, the top four individual finishers in each region who did not make it to NCAAs as part of a team will also be invited to join in on the fun in Terre Haute.

Before we quickly overview some of the main storylines in each men’s region (women’s preview here), you’ll notice that the tables of each region’s top 10 teams (based on the USTFCCCA Regional Team Rankings) are color-coded.

We broke down the at-large qualifying picture in significant depth (for those of you running nerds who want to get into the nitty-gritty of it all) and the colors correspond to several categories of at-large qualification status (based on head-to-head wins) identified in that article based on our projections.

Check that piece out to get all the scenarios on how things could play out.

And just in time, winter has decided to arrive! Eight of the nine regions around the country will be run in very cold conditions. Here’s a breakdown:

So there we go. Ready? Let’s get to it, by region in alphabetical order.

Great Lakes Region Men

Defending Team Champ: Michigan
Defending Individual Champ: John Mascari, Indiana State

If this meet plays out anything like it did a year ago, this should be one of the country’s most exciting regional races this weekend. A mere five points separated the top four teams: regional champ Michigan with 70 points, Wisconsin with 73, Notre Dame with 74 and Indiana with 75.

Michigan’s win snapped an 11-year streak atop the region by Wisconsin, just weeks after the Badgers’ 14-year reign atop the Big Ten Conference had been terminated by Indiana. Mick Byrne’s youthful No. 6 Badgers are back as Big Ten Champions this year, and are the favorites to reclaim their regional title, as well.

Just as Wisconsin is looking to spark a new regional winning streak, the No. 12 Michigan men are looking to keep theirs going. The Wolverines were runners-up to Wisconsin at the Big Ten meet, and were also the second-best Great Lakes team at the star-studded Wisconsin adidas Invite earlier this year.

In fact, each of the top four teams in the region are from the Big Ten, with No. 20 Indiana and No. 27 Michigan State next in line. The first non-Big Ten team in the final Regional Team Rankings is Mid-American Conference champ No. 5 Eastern Michigan. Last year’s third-place finisher, Notre Dame, is sixth in the region entering the meet.

While these teams will certainly bring the heat in an effort to qualify for NCAAs, there will be no heat brought by Mother Nature. Weather.com is forecasting temperatures in the low-to-mid 20s at race time, with the wind making it feel even colder. But these guys are all used to it being from Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio. If NCAAs in Terre Haute, Indiana, are like this in a week and a half, these teams will all be smiling (well, if their faces weren’t completely frozen, anyway).

Individuals to Watch: John Mascari, Indiana State; Mason Ferlic, Michigan, Malachy Schrobilgen & Michael VanVoorhis, Wisconsin; Caleb Rhynard, Michigan State; Matt McClintock, Purdue; Erik Peterson, Butler; Willie Fink, Eastern Michigan

Mid-Atlantic Region Men

Defending Team Champion: Villanova
Defending Individual Champion: Patrick Tiernan, Villanova

Georgetown had been the team to beat in the Mid-Atlantic Region of late with seven of the last nine region titles decided in favor of the Hoyas. That looks to be changing, however, as Villanova took the crown a year ago and are in very favorable position to repeat at Mid-Atlantic winners on Friday.

The No. 7 Wildcats are still something of a wild card as the only two nationally ranked teams their full "A" team has faced are No. 14 Georgetown and No. 19 Providence – routing both at the Big East Championships two weekends ago. National frontrunner and defending region champ Patrick Tiernan and his Nova squad will see Georgetown once more, along with No. 24 Penn State fresh off its third-place upset of Indiana and Michigan State at Big Tens and Ivy League champion Princeton.

Individuals to Watch: Tiernan, Jordan Williamsz & Sam McEntee, Villanova; Matt Fischer & Glen Burkhardt, Penn State; Tommy Awad, Penn; Stephen Schroeder, Navy; Sam Pons & Michael Sublette, Princeton; Jonathan Green, Scott Carpenter & Ahmed Bile, Georgetown

Midwest Region Men

Defending Team Champion: Oklahoma State (three in a row)
2013 Individual Champion: Chris O’Hare, Tulsa (two-time) (graduated)
Top Returner: Jannis Topfer, Illinois (Trent Lusignan of South Dakota State, last year’s runner-up, is redshirting)

Based on Oklahoma State’s light competition schedule this season, don’t expect to see the No. 4 Cowboys go full throttle at this meet. OSU may have claimed eight of the past nine regional titles, but the primary goal for the Big 12 Champion Cowboys will be to qualify for NCAAs without incident. For instance, last year, their top five crossed the line in a row from seventh through 11th.

That second automatic qualifying spot to NCAAs will be very hotly contested, however. American Athletic Conference champ No. 23 Tulsa is the next-best ranked team in the field, but are only narrowly ahead of No. 26 Oklahoma, with vote-receiving Iowa State lurking at No. 4 in the region.

Tulsa has yet to face any of these teams, but Oklahoma topped Iowa State by 15 points at the Big 12 Championships two weekends ago. Based on head-to-head at-large wins accumulated throughout the season, Oklahoma has the edge over Tulsa.

Individuals to Watch: Erassa & Craig Nowak, Oklahoma State; Marc Scott, Tulsa; Abbibiya Simbassa, Oklahoma; Kevin Lewis, Iowa; Aaron Bartnik, Minnesota; Topfer, Illinois; Tyler Schneider, Missouri; Sam Penzenstadler, Loyola (Ill.); Ryan Rutherford, Illinois State; Jacob Morgan, Kansas

Mountain Region Men

Defending Team Champion: Northern Arizona (two in a row)
2013 Individual Champion: Kennedy Kithuka, Texas Tech (two-time) (graduated)
Top Returner: Anthony Rotich, UTEP

While regionals can be exciting, it’s wise not to read too much into them as far as the very top teams are concerned. Take last year’s Colorado men, for example. The Buffaloes entered the meet No. 1 and ultimately fell to No. 2 Northern Arizona. All was well in Boulder just over a week later when head coach Mark Wetmore and his CU men returned with the NCAA trophy in hand.

In fact, Colorado hasn’t won the region since 2008. NAU has won the past two, BYU earned a pair of titles and New Mexico got one, as well.

Unlike years past, though, the front-running and pack-running No. 1 Colorado men enter as the crystal clear national favorite after dominant wins at Pre-Nationals and Pac-12s, and there isn’t a team directly behind them pushing hard for the win. Though the region does have six nationally ranked squads, the next-highest ranked team is No. 10 Northern Arizona.

With proven low sticks in Futsum Zeinesallassie and Matt McElroy, the Lumberjacks are set up front but have yet to fully come together in the back of their scoring line-up. This will be their final tune-up to get that mix right prior to the big dance.

The aforementioned No. 13 New Mexico and No. 15 BYU squads have a very comfortable number of at-large wins in their pockets and most likely race conservatively to avoid any disastrous meltdowns that would keep them out of the NCAA championships field.

Looking to usurp the Lobos and Cougars are No. 29 Air Force and No. 30 Southern Utah, along with Colorado State and Weber State. Knocking off either or both of those teams would go a very long way toward any of those squads making it to NCAAs.

Individuals to Watch: Anthony Rotich, UTEP; Blake Theroux, Ben Saarel, Ammar Moussa, Pierce Murphy, Jake Hurysz & Connor Winter, Colorado; Zienesallassie, McElroy & Caleb Hoover, Northern Arizona; Adam Bitchell, New Mexico; Jonathan Nelson, BYU; Nate Jewkes, Southern Utah; Jerrell Mock, Colorado State; Patrick Corona, Air Force

Northeast Region Men

Defending Team Champion: Syracuse
2013 Individual Champion: Maksim Korolev, Harvard (transferred to Stanford)
Top Returner: Martin Hehir, Syracuse (3rd)

Syracuse has claimed three of the past four region titles – interrupted only in 2012 by Iona. Both teams are firing on all cylinders entering this Friday’s meet at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, with the No. 3 Orange coming off a dominant ACC title and the No. 5 Gaels fresh off a perfect MAAC title (their nation-best 24th in a row).

In the loaded Wisconsin adidas Invitational field in mid-October, it was these two teams that emerged on top. Syracuse put five scorers in the top 25 of the year’s most challenging race of the season to score 85 points, while Iona was closer to the rest of the pack with 154 points. In the interim, however, the Gaels have added their top returner from 2013, Kieran Clements, into their line-up.

As with Colorado and NAU in the Mountain region, these two teams are certain to make the NCAA field barring any apocalyptic implosion, leaving the qualifying intrigue to the rest of the field. No. 19 Providence is the only other ranked team in the field, but will have to fight off essentially the entire Ivy League to ensure they are in the best position for at-large qualification. Any Ivy that can sneak ahead of Providence, like vote-receiving Cornell, for instance, would likely receive a push into the NCAA Championships field.

Individuals to Watch: Hehir, Max Straneva, Justyn Knight, Syracuse; Clements, Gilbert Kirui, Jake Byrne, Chartt Miller, Iona; Shane Quinn & Benjamin Connor, Providence; Dominic DeLuca, Cornell; Kevin Dooney, Yale; Bobby Allen, UMass Lowell

South Region Men

Defending Team Champion: Georgia
2013 Individual Champion: Mark Parrish, Florida (graduated)
Top Returner: Ty McCormack, Auburn (3rd)

With no other teams beyond the two automatic NCAA Championships qualifiers likely to make it to NCAAs (see our breakdown here), more than any other region the South is a make-or-break type of race. Top two and you’re through; go big or go home.

Reigning team champ Georgia is ranked 14th in the region entering the meet, so look for a new team champion. Florida State had won the previous two before Georgia, and look for the No. 21 FSU men to reclaim that title as the top-ranked team entering the meet.

A pair of SEC teams will be hot on their heels in Ole Miss and Auburn. Ole Miss nearly handed Arkansas a rare SEC Championships loss, and Auburn was just behind in third. How does that stack up against Florida State? FSU was ninth at Wisconsin, while Arkansas was well back in 16th.

Another team that could break through for that No. 2 spot is Middle Tennessee, currently ranked fourth in the region but ranked as high as third in 2014.

Individuals to Watch: Ty McCormack, Auburn; Tyler Udland & Jack Goodwin, Florida State; Wes Gallagher, Ole Miss; Shadrack Matelong, Middle Tennessee State; Daniel Garcia, Kennesaw State; Michael Pienaar, South Alabama

South Central Region Men

Defending Team Champion: Arkansas
Defending Individual Champion: Stanley Kebenei, Arkansas

The regional title has oscillated between Texas and Arkansas of late, with Arkansas claiming the title most recently in 2013. This race will again boil down to these two teams (or whichever team can upend them) as the region will likely only send two teams to NCAAs.

At No. 24 in the country, Arkansas is the lone ranked team in the field, though Texas has been ranked throughout the year, as well. As mentioned before, Arkansas was nearly upset at the SEC Championships by Ole Miss and Texas was fourth at the Big 12 meet.

Lining up behind them in case they stumble again are Southland champ Lamar and Conference USA champ North Texas.

Individuals to Watch: Kebenei; Craig Lutz, Texas; Sam Stabler, Lamar; Troy Taylor, North Texas; Philipp Baar, Texas A&M-CC

Southeast Region Men

Defending Team Champion: Eastern Kentucky
2013 Individual Champion: Paul Chelimo, UNC-Greensboro
Top Returner: Thomas Curtin, Virginia Tech (4th); Kyle King, Virginia (5th)

After finishing 15th in this meet a year ago, the Furman Paladins are ranked No. 16 in the nation and No. 1 in the region, while defending region champ Eastern Kentucky is outside the top 30 and ranked No. 5 in the region.

Furman impressed with a fourth-place showing at Pre-Nationals and was in the thick of things at Virginia earlier this season, but this will be the first race as the favorite for a very young team. We spoke to head coach Robert Gary about that and much more on our QA2 Max podcast.

Ranked second in the region is national No. 18 NC State, which ran to a runner-up finish at ACCs behind a pair of low sticks in fourth-place George Parsons and fifth-place Graham Crawford. Not much separates the Wolfpack from in-state rival No. 22 North Carolina, though, as the Tar Heels had a tighter pack and finished just five points back of NC State at ACCs.

Blowing the region wide open were the struggles of No. 28 Virginia at ACCs, finishing a distant fourth on their home course. Usual frontrunner Kyle King had a very off day and was 29th as their No. 4 scorer.

Though outside the top 25, not to be forgotten is reigning champ Eastern Kentucky. The Colonels were 21st at Wisconsin to UNC’s 18th, but were easy victors over NC State at Notre Dame in early October in a fifth-place finish.

Individuals to Watch: Tripp Hurt, Furman; Kyle King & Connor Rog, Virginia; Parsons & Crawford, NC State; Ernest Kibet & Edwin Kibichiy, Louisville; Ryan Walling, North Carolina; Amos Kosgey & Ambrose Martim, Eastern Kentucky; Luis Vargas, Elon

West Region Men

Defending Team Champion: Stanford
Defending Individual Champion: Edward Cheserek, Oregon

Five nationally ranked teams are set to toe the line at the West Regional on Friday, with four ranked among the nation’s top 11 and the fifth, UCLA, a safe 17th.

All have garnered sufficient head-to-head wins to all but ensure them safe passage into the NCAA Championships (with the shakiest case being UCLA) should they successfully navigate the regional meet.

Will we see a reprisal of the great team battle between No. 2 Oregon and No. 9 Stanford that came down to just three points at the Pac-12 meet? It’s more likely we see both teams just do what they have to do to get through so they can save themselves for a national title run a week later, as will national No. 8 Portland and No. 11 Washington.

 No. 17 UCLA has the most to prove of any of these nationally ranked teams, after a disastrous Pac-12 meet that saw them finish fifth and nearly double the score of fourth-place Washington. The Bruins had been coming off very strong performances at Washington and Wisconsin prior to that.

The opportunity is also there for a team like Boise State or Arizona State to sneak in ahead of one of those teams and get "pushed" into the NCAA championships.

Individuals to Watch: Cheserek, Eric Jenkins, Oregon; Maksim Korolev, Joe Rosa, Sean McGorty, Stanford; Scott Fauble & David Perry, Portland; Aaron Nelson, Washington; Lane Werley, UCLA; David Elliot, Boise State