Sport Cross country Most recent
champion(s) Adams State (11) | Founded 1958 Official website NCAA.com | |
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The NCAA Men's Division II Cross Country Championship is an annual cross country meet to decide the team and individual national champions of men's intercollegiate cross country running in the United States. It has been held every fall, usually in November, since breaking off from the NCAA University Division Men's Cross Country Championships in 1958.
Contents
Known as the NCAA College Division Men's Cross Country Championship until 1973, it was created for cross country programs from smaller universities and colleges. A third championship, the NCAA Men's Division III Cross Country Championship, split away in 1973 when the NCAA created its current three-division structure.
The defending national teams champions are the Adams State Grizzlies, who won their 11th national title in 2016. Missouri Southern's Vincent Kiprop is the reigning individual champion, with a time of 29:07.4.
Format
The field for the championship race has ranged in size from a low of 11 teams in 1959 to a high of 59 teams in 1972. From 1983 to 1999 the field was fixed at 17 teams. Beginning in 2000, the national championship race has included 24 teams. Teams compete in one of eight regional championships to qualify. In addition to the 24 teams, 16 individual runners qualify for the national championship.
The race distance from 1958 to 1967 was 4 miles (6.4 km). From 1968 to 1975 the race distance was 5 miles (8.0 km). Since 1976 the race distance has been 10,000 meters (6.2 mi)
The event record for the 10,000 meter distance is 28:04.00, set by Shane Healy of Adams State in 1994.