The NCAA Division I Men's Cross Country Championship is the cross country championship held by the National Collegiate Athletic Association each autumn for individual men's runners and cross country teams from universities in Division I. Teams and individual runners qualify for the championship at regional competitions approximately a week before the national championships.
Oklahoma State is the defending men's team champions.
Each autumn since 1938, with the exception of 1943 and 2020, the National Collegiate Athletic Association has hosted men's cross country championships. Since 1958, the NCAA has had multiple division championships. Since 1973, Divisions I, II and III have all had their own national championships.
Teams compete in one of nine regional championships to qualify, where the top two teams automatically advance and thirteen additional teams are chosen as at-large selections. In addition to the 31 teams, 38 individual runners qualify for the national championship.[1][2]
The field for the Division I national championship race has ranged in size from a low of 6 teams in 1938 to a high of 39 teams in 1970. From 1982 to 1997 the field was fixed at 22 teams. Beginning in 1998, the national championship race has included 31 teams.
The race distance from 1938 to 1964 was 4 miles (6.4 km). From 1965 to 1975 the race distance was 6 miles (9.7 km). Since 1976 the race distance has been 10,000 meters (6.2 mi).[3]
Henry Rono, Washington State (1976, 1977, and 1979) Edward Cheserek, Oregon (2013, 2014, and 2015)