The NCAA Division I cross country season reaches its qualifying stage on Friday, 13 November, with regional championships at nine sites across the United States deciding the bulk of the fields for the national championships. The title races take place eight days later, on Saturday 21 November, at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Indiana, hosted by Indiana State University.
The qualifying system rewards consistency over a single day. Each championship race carries 32 teams and 38 individuals. The top two teams in each of the nine regions qualify automatically, accounting for 18 places, and the remaining 14 team berths are awarded at large on the basis of results across the season. Individuals qualify through a mix of automatic places and at-large selection. The regionals are being held in Lansing, Bethlehem, Ames, Albuquerque, Bethpage, College Station, Tallahassee, Spartanburg and Sacramento, with Division III regionals following on Saturday.
In the latest coaches' poll, New Mexico lead the men's rankings ahead of Colorado, defending champions Oklahoma State, Alabama and Oregon. BYU top the women's poll after beating NC State, the reigning national champions, at Pre-Nationals; West Virginia, Alabama and Florida complete the top five. The Mountain region, which contains New Mexico, Colorado and BYU, is again likely to be the most competitive of the nine.
Washington State junior Solomon Kipchoge is aiming for a third consecutive regional title, having won his first in 2024 while running for New Mexico. The Pac-12 champion finished third at last year's NCAA meet and heads an individual picture that includes Florida's SEC champion Kelvin Cheruiyot, Wake Forest's Rocky Hansen, last year's runner-up, and Louisville's Elsingi Kipruto, who beat Hansen for the ACC title. Oklahoma State's Big 12 champion Denis Kipngetich and the Colorado freshman Meshack Kipruto, who won Nuttycombe in a course record, are also among the leading contenders.
In the women's race, NC State's Hannah Gapes is unbeaten this season after winning the ACC title and setting a course record at the LaVern Gibson course during Pre-Nationals. BYU's Jane Hedengren, runner-up as a freshman last year and now Big 12 champion, is her most obvious rival, with New Mexico's Pamela Kosgei, Alabama's SEC champion Caren Kiplagat and Oklahoma State's Billah Jepkirui also in contention. For most of the favourites Friday is about securing safe passage, but for teams on the bubble it is the most important race of the season.