The NCAA Division I women's cross country championships are contested at an annual meet hosted by the
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
to determine the individual and team national champions of women's collegiate
cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...
among its
Division I members in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The championships have been every year since 1981, except for 2020.
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.
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 . Since 2000 the race distance has been .
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
The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...
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.''
*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.''
Individual titles
*''List updated through the
2024 Championships.''
Appearances
*''List updated through the
2014 Championships.''
Most team appearances
Records
*Best Team Score: 35
**
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
(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
Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...
(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
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
(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
A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy.
Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...
,
Women
A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl.
Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...
)
References
External links
NCAA Women's Cross Country
{{Major women's sport leagues in North America
Division I
Women's sports competitions in the United States
Crosscountry
CrossCountry (legal name XC Trains Limited) is a British train operating company owned by Arriva UK Trains, operating the current CrossCountry franchise.
The CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport (DfT) in 2006, ...
Women's athletics competitions