The 2003 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships were the 65th annual

NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship 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 a ...

and the 23rd annual

NCAA Women's Division I Cross Country Championship The NCAA Women's Division I Cross Country Championship is the cross country championship held by the National Collegiate Athletic Association each autumn for individual runners and cross country teams from universities in Division I. Teams and ...

to determine the team and individual national champions of

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I men's and women's collegiate cross country running in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. In all, four different titles were contested: men's and women's individual and team championships. Held on November 24, 2003, the combined meet was hosted by the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and gr ...

at Irv Warren Golf Course in

Waterloo, Iowa Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 67,314, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. The city is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls ...

, near UNI's campus in Cedar Falls. The distance for the men's race was 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) while the distance for the women's race was 6 kilometers (3.73 miles). The men's team championship was again won by Stanford (24 points), the Cardinal's second consecutive and fourth overall. This was the second best score in NCAA history and the lowest by a team of entirely American runners. UTEP's 17 point win in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

was accomplished with a team of African runners. Stanford placed 6 runners in the top 13 places. The women's team championship was also won by Stanford (120 points), the Cardinal's second and first since 1996. This was the third time that the same university won both team titles; Stanford accomplished this feat in 1996 and Wisconsin captured both in 1985. The two individual champions were, for the men,

Dathan Ritzenhein Dathan James Ritzenhein (born December 30, 1982) is a retired American long-distance runner, and current head coach of On Athletics Club. He held the American record in the 5,000 metres (12:56.27) from 2009-2010, when it was broken by Bernard ...

(

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, 29:14.1) and, for the women,

Shalane Flanagan Shalane Grace Flanagan (born July 8, 1981) is an American long-distance runner, Olympic medalist and New York City Marathon champion. She was the first American woman to win the New York City Marathon since 1977. She holds the NACAC area reco ...

(

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

, 19:30.4). It was Flanagan's second consecutive title.

Men's title

*Distance: 10,000 meters

Men's Team Result (Top 10)

Men's Individual Result (Top 10)

Women's title

*Distance: 6,000 meters

Women's Team Result (Top 10)

Women's Individual Result (Top 10)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2003 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships NCAA Cross Country Championships NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships Waterloo, Iowa Track and field in Iowa