NCAA Division I women's cross country championships

NCAA Division I women's cross country championships

Association	NCAA
Sport	Cross country
Founded	1981;44 years ago (1981)
Division	Division I
Country	United States
Most recent champion(s)	Team: BYU (6th) Individual: Doris Lemngole, Alabama
Most titles	Team: Villanova (9) Individual: Villanova (9)
Broadcaster(s)	Flotrack
Official website	NCAA.com

The NCAA Division I women's cross country championships are contested at an annual meet hosted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the individual and team national champions of women's collegiate cross country running among its Division I members in the United States. The championships have been every year since 1981, except for 2020. ^[1]

Teams and individual runners qualify for the championship at regional competitions approximately a week before the national championships.

Villanova have been the most successful program, with nine team and nine individual titles.

BYU are the reigning national champions, winning their sixth title in 2024.

Qualifying

Teams compete in one of nine regional championships to qualify. The top two teams automatically advance, and 13 additional teams are chosen as at-large selections. In addition to the 31 teams, 38 individual runners qualify for the national championship. ^{[2] [3]}

History

The Division I national championship race included 13 teams in 1981, 16 teams from 1982 to 1988 and 22 teams from 1989 to 1997. Beginning in 1998, the national championship race has included 31 teams.

The race distance from 1981 to 1999 was 5,000 meters (3.1 miles). Since 2000 the race distance has been 6,000 meters (3.7 miles).

Cross country was one of twelve women's sports added to the NCAA championship program for the 1981–82 school year, as the NCAA engaged in battle with the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women for sole governance of women's collegiate sports. The AIAW continued to conduct its established championship program in the same twelve (and other) sports; however, after a year of dual women's championships, the NCAA conquered the AIAW and usurped its authority and membership.

Villanova has won more NCAA Division I women's titles (9) than any other school, followed by BYU with 6. BYU and North Carolina State have competed in the most NCAA Division I women's championships (25). Villanova has had the most individual NCAA Division I women's cross country champions (9).

Results

The championship race distance was 5,000 meters from 1981 to 1999, and has been 6,000 meters since the 2000 race.

NCAA Women's Division I Cross Country Championship
Year	Host City (Host Team)		Team Championship					Individual Championship
			Winner	Points	Runner-up	Points		Winner (Team)	Time
1981 Details	Wichita, KS (Wichita State)		Virginia	36	Oregon	81		Betty Jo Springs (NC State)	16:19.0
1982 Details	Bloomington, IN (Indiana)		Virginia	48	Stanford	91		Lesley Welch (Virginia)	16:39.7
1983 Details	Bethlehem, PA (Lehigh)		Oregon	95	Stanford	98		Betty Jo Springs (NC State)	16:30.7
1984 Details	State College, PA (Penn State)		Wisconsin	63	Stanford	89		Cathy Branta (Wisconsin)	16:15.6
1985 Details	Milwaukee, WI (Marquette)		Wisconsin	58	Iowa State	98		Suzie Tuffey (NC State)	16:22.53
1986 Details	Tucson, AZ (Arizona)		Texas	62	Wisconsin	64		Angela Chalmers (Northern Arizona)	16:55.49
1987 Details	Charlottesville, VA (Virginia)		Oregon	97	NC State	99		Kimberly Betz (Indiana)	16:10.85
1988 Details	Ames, IA (Iowa State)		Kentucky	75	Oregon	128		Michelle Dekkers (Indiana)	16:30.00
1989 Details	Annapolis, MD (Navy)		Villanova	99	Kentucky	168		Vicki Huber (Villanova)	15:59.86†
1990 Details	Knoxville, TN (Tennessee)		Villanova	82	Providence	172		Sonia O'Sullivan (Villanova)	16:06.00
1991 Details	Tucson, AZ (Arizona)		Villanova	85	Arkansas	168			16:30.3
1992 Details	Bloomington, IN (Indiana)		Villanova	123	Arkansas	130		Carole Zajac (Villanova)	17:01.9
1993 Details	Bethlehem, PA (Lehigh)		Villanova	66	Arkansas	71			16:40.3
1994 Details	Fayetteville, AR (Arkansas)		Villanova	75	Michigan	108		Jennifer Rhines (Villanova)	16:31.2
1995 Details	Ames, IA (Iowa State)		Providence	88	Colorado	123		Kathy Butler (Wisconsin)	16:51
1996 Details	Tucson, AZ (Arizona)		Stanford	101	Villanova	106		Amy Skieresz (Arizona)	17:04
1997 Details	Greenville, SC (Furman)		BYU	100	Stanford	102		Carrie Tollefson (Villanova)	16:29
1998 Details	Lawrence, KS (Kansas)		Villanova	106	BYU	110		Katie McGregor (Michigan)	16:47.21
1999 Details	Bloomington, IN (Indiana)		BYU	72	Arkansas	125		Erica Palmer (Wisconsin)	16:39.5
Race distance changes from 5,000 meters to 6,000 meters
2000 Details	Ames, IA (Iowa State)		Colorado	117	BYU	167		Kara Grgas-Wheeler (Colorado)	20:30.5
2001 Details	Greenville, SC (Furman)		BYU	62	NC State	148		Tara Chaplin (Arizona)	20:24
2002 Details	Terre Haute, IN (Indiana State)		BYU	85	Stanford	113		Shalane Flanagan (North Carolina)	19:36.0
2003 Details	Cedar Falls, IA (Northern Iowa)		Stanford	120	BYU	128			19:30.4
2004 Details	Terre Haute, IN (Indiana State)		Colorado	63	Duke	144		Kim Smith (Providence)	20:08.5
2005 Details			Stanford	146	Colorado	181		Johanna Nilsson (Northern Arizona)	19:33.9
2006 Details			Stanford	195	Colorado	223		Sally Kipyego (Texas Tech)	20:11.1
2007 Details			Stanford	145	Oregon	177			19:30.9
2008 Details			Washington	79	Oregon	131			19:28.1
2009 Details			Villanova	86	Florida State	133		Angela Bizzarri (Illinois)	19:46.8
2010 Details			Villanova	120	Florida State	154		Sheila Reid (Villanova)	20:06.9
2011 Details			Georgetown	162	Washington	170			19:41.2
2012 Details	Louisville, KY (Louisville)		Oregon	114	Providence	183		Betsy Saina (Iowa State)	19:27.9
2013 Details	Terre Haute, IN (Indiana State)		Providence	141	Arizona	197		Abbey D'Agostino (Dartmouth)	20:00.3
2014 Details			Michigan State	85	Iowa State	147		Kate Avery (Iona)	19:31.6
2015 Details	Louisville, KY (Louisville)		New Mexico	49	Colorado	129		Molly Seidel (Notre Dame)	19:28.6
2016 Details	Terre Haute, IN (Indiana State)		Oregon	125	Michigan	126		Karissa Schweizer (Missouri)	19:41.7
2017 Details	Louisville, KY (Louisville)		New Mexico	90	San Francisco	105		Ednah Kurgat (New Mexico)	19:19.42
2018 Details	Madison, WI (Wisconsin)		Colorado	65	New Mexico	103		Dani Jones (Colorado)	19:42.8
2019 Details	Terre Haute, IN (Indiana State)		Arkansas	96	BYU	102		Weini Kelati (New Mexico)	19:47.5
2020 Details	Stillwater, OK (Oklahoma State)		BYU	96	NC State	161		Mercy Chelangat Alabama	20:01.1
2021 Details	Tallahassee, FL (Florida State)		NC State	84	BYU	122		Whittni Orton (BYU)	19:25.4
2022 Details	Stillwater, OK (Oklahoma State)		NC State	114	New Mexico	140		Katelyn Tuohy (NC State)	19:27.7
2023 Details	Charlottesville, VA (Virginia)		NC State	123	Northern Arizona	124		Parker Valby (Florida)	18:55.2†
2024 Details	Madison, WI (Wisconsin)		BYU	147	West Virginia	164		Doris Lemngole (Alabama)	19:21.0
2025 Details	Columbia, MO (Missouri)
2026 Details	Terre Haute, IN (Indiana State)
2027 Details	Stillwater, OK (Oklahoma State)

• A time highlighted in ██ indicates an NCAA championship event record time for that distance at the time.
• A † indicates the all-time NCAA championship event record for that distance.

Champions

Team titles

• List updated through the 2024 Championships.

Villanova

Stanford

BYU

Oregon

Colorado

New Mexico

Providence

Virginia

Wisconsin

Arkansas

Georgetown

Kentucky

Michigan State

NC State

Texas

Washington

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National Championships by school: 9, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Team	Titles	Year Won
Villanova	9	1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2009, 2010
BYU	6	1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2020, 2024
Stanford	5	1996, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007
Oregon	4	1983, 1987, 2012, 2016
NC State	3	2021, 2022, 2023
Colorado	3	2000, 2004, 2018
New Mexico	2	2015, 2017
Providence	2	1995, 2013
Virginia	2	1981, 1982
Wisconsin	2	1984, 1985
Arkansas	1	2019
Georgetown	1	2011
Kentucky	1	1988
Michigan State	1	2014
Texas	1	1986
Washington	1	2008

Individual titles

• List updated through the 2024 Championships.

Team	Titles	Year won
Villanova	9	1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 2010, 2011
NC State	4	1981, 1983, 1985, 2022
Texas Tech	3	2006, 2007, 2008
Wisconsin	3	1984, 1995, 1999
Alabama	2	2020, 2024
Arizona	2	1996, 2001
Colorado	2	2000, 2018
Indiana	2	1987, 1988
New Mexico	2	2017, 2019
North Carolina	2	2002, 2003
Northern Arizona	2	1986, 2005
BYU	1	2021
Dartmouth	1	2013
Florida	1	2023
Illinois	1	2009
Iona	1	2014
Iowa State	1	2012
Michigan	1	1998
Missouri	1	2016
Notre Dame	1	2015
Providence	1	2004
Virginia	1	1982

Appearances

• List updated through the 2014 Championships.

Most team appearances

Rank	Team	Appearances
1	NC State	28
2	Arkansas BYU Stanford	27
3	Georgetown Michigan Oregon Villanova Wisconsin	26
4	Providence	25
5	Colorado	24
6	Washington	21
7	Boston College Minnesota Penn State	18
8	Arizona Michigan State	16
9	Baylor Northern Arizona North Carolina	15
10	Nebraska Virginia	14

Records

• Best Team Score: 35
  • Virginia (1981; Eileen O'Connor–3, Lesley Welch–4, Lisa Welch–6, Jill Haworth–8, Marisa Schmitt–15)
• Most Individual Titles: 3 (tie)
  • Sally Kipyego, Texas Tech (2006, 2007, and 2008)
• Best Individual Time, 5,000 meters: 15:59.86
  • Vicki Huber, Villanova (1989)
• Best Individual Time, 6,000 meters: 18:55.2
  • Parker Valby, Florida (2023)

See also

• Pre-NCAA Cross Country Champions
• AIAW Intercollegiate Women's Cross Country Champions
• NCAA Women's Division II Cross Country Championship (from 1981)
• NCAA Women's Division III Cross Country Championship (from 1981)
• NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship (from 1938)
• NCAA Men's Division II Cross Country Championship (from 1958)
• NCAA Men's Division III Cross Country Championship (from 1973)
• NAIA Cross Country Championships (Men, Women)

References

1. "DIVISION I WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS RECORDS BOOK" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
2. "NCAA Championship Qualifying Criteria". U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
3. "How the DI college cross country championship works | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2021-11-23.

External links

• NCAA Women's Cross Country
• NCAA Women's Cross Country Championship Results and Records