The 2025 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships are Saturday, Nov. 22, in Columbia, Missouri.
The NCAA Cross Country Championships will air on ESPNU and stream live on DIRECTV (free trial).
The Syracuse University men’s cross country team earned an automatic qualifying spot for the championships by finishing first at the NCAA Northeast Regional. Selma Anderson will represent the Orange as an individual in the women’s 6K event.
Here’s what you need to know:
What: NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
Who: The best collegiate men’s and women’s runners in the country
When: Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025
Time: Women’s 6K at 10:20 a.m. EDT, men’s 10K at 11:10 a.m. EDT. Coverage begins at 10 a.m.
Where: Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri
TV: ESPNU
Stream: DIRECTV (free trial), fuboTV (free trial), Sling
The Syracuse men reached the NCAA Championships 17 times in a row, the nation’s third-longest active streak.
Here are some things to know about the event, courtesy of The Kansas City Star via the Tribune News Service:
Five years removed from the Missouri Tigers being awarded the right to play host to the 2025 NCAA Cross Country Championships, the wait is nearing its end.
The nation’s top programs will descend on Columbia this weekend to crown new champions at Gans Creek Cross Country Course.
Thirty-two teams and 38 individuals will compete in both the men’s and women’s championship events, and for the first time since 2016, a Mizzou contingent will compete among them.
Capping a strong season résumé with a fourth-place finish and a pair of all-region honors at the NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday in Stillwater, Oklahoma, the Missouri women’s team advanced to the NCAA Cross Country Championships with an at-large bid.
Freshman Monica Wanjiku headlined the MU contingent, placing sixth overall in the 6,000-meter run with a time of 20 minutes, 10.1 seconds, against a competitive regional field. Fellow freshman Kobi Walker followed in 24th, surging up four places in the final kilometer to earn all-region honors alongside Wanjiku.
With the field now officially set and Missouri back on the national stage, attention turns to the teams and individuals poised to contend for the NCAA crowns.
BYU, NC State vie for women’s title
For six consecutive weeks, the BYU women’s team had been comfortable atop the USTFCCCA national rankings, but after placing second to New Mexico at the NCAA Mountain Regional this past weekend, NC State has ousted the Cougars and claimed the top spot.
The Wolfpack secured the NCAA Southeast Regional title over the weekend with senior Hannah Gapes leading the group after clocking 19:08.3 to grab second place. Three NC State runners finished within the top 10, proving they have multiple front-runners.
However, the Wolfpack’s 1-5 spread was 1:03, which will need to tighten up in hopes of securing their fourth national championship title and first since 2023.
On the other end, BYU has found itself at No. 2 for the first time since Week 3 of 2024. Freshman Jane Hedengren has continued her undefeated season after winning the NCAA Mountain Regional title by over 40 seconds. The Cougars put three runners in the top 10 at the regional bout with their 2-5 runners clocking a spread of 59 seconds.
Between BYU and NC State, it’ll likely come down to the performances of the fourth and fifth runners to decide the team title.
A ‘Jane-erational talent’
There has been no runner more impressive this season than BYU phenom Hedengren. In her collegiate debut at the Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 17 at Gans Creek, she set a course record of 18:42.3 and won gold by 23.5 seconds.
As the stakes grew larger, Hedengren’s margins of victory only grew. At the Big 12 Championships on Oct. 31 in Lawrence, Kansas, she took first with a personal record of 18:29.6, breaking the conference record and leading the runner-up by 45.6 seconds.
This past weekend at the NCAA Mountain Regional in Salt Lake City, Hedengren took the regional crown in 19:06.6 despite facing a headwind most of the race, and she topped New Mexico sophomore Pamela Kosgei by 42.1 seconds. Kosgei was last year’s national runner-up and is the reigning 5,000 and 10,000 NCAA track and field champion.
“She is one of one,” BYU coach Diljeet Taylor said of Hedengren following the Mountain Regional race. “I talk about her being, instead of a ‘generational talent,’ a ‘Jane-erational talent,’ and that’s true. She’s proving that week in, week out.”
In hopes of continuing a perfect season, Hedengren will face off against Kosgei as well as Alabama defending champion Doris Lemngole.
Oklahoma State men’s team poised for win
There’s a sizable gap between the top two teams in the country and the rest of the field, but Oklahoma State is entering championships weekend as the unanimous No. 1 squad.
The Cowboys are aiming for their sixth national title and second in the past three years. They held off No. 2 Iowa State once again - first at the Big 12 Championships and again at the NCAA Midwest Regional.
However, this time around, the margins were much tighter. OSU topped the Cyclones by 23 points at the conference championships but only by three at the regional meet, so the Cyclones could finally flip the script when it matters most.
Chasing their third national championship and first since 1994, Iowa State put four runners in the top 10 at the NCAA Midwest Regional, though their fifth runner dropped to 22nd to lower its score. But the Cyclones did still dominate earlier in the year at the Gans Creek Classic on Sept. 26, defeating a competitive field by 60 points.
Similar to BYU and NC State’s situation in the women’s race, it’ll come down to the fourth and fifth runners to crown a champ.
New Mexico’s Samuel is the man to beat
New Mexico junior Habtom Samuel opened his 2025 campaign with a statement at the Nuttycombe Invitational, covering the 8,000-meter race in 22:58.0 and pulling away from one of the deepest fields in the country to win by more than seven seconds.
Two weeks later, he erased his own Mountain West Championship record with a commanding 22:58.0, capturing a third straight conference title and cementing himself as the national frontrunner.
Still, the competition lining up beside him is formidable. Oklahoma State junior Brian Musau has built a season around late-race firepower, storming away to win the Big 12 title in 22:53.7. If the pack stays tight into the closing stretch, Musau’s closing speed could become unstoppable.
OSU teammate Denis Kipngetich proved his consistency this season at the NCAA Midwest Regional, where he defended his regional title with a 29:42.8 in the 10,000, becoming the first Cowboy ever to win three consecutive regional championships.
Washington State’s Solomon Kipchoge offers yet another style of racing, one rooted in aggression and front-running confidence. He owns the Gans Creek course record in the 8,000 after clocking 22:24.7 at the Gans Creek Classic. He followed it up with a 22:32.6 win at the Pac-12 Championships.
While Samuel remains the favorite, Musau, Kipngetich and Kipchoge are poised to ensure the title chase is not a one-man show.
