WHEN ASSESSING NCAA Cross Country possibilities in September, hard data is relatively scarce. Evidence in the form of major meet results doesn’t pour in copiously until late October. Individual stars and full-strength squads more often that not race infrequently before then, and after that it’s off to the races over 3 weeks in November.
For the third time in NCAA XC history, Wisconsin will host the Nationals, which will be run on November 23 over 6K for the women and 10K for the men. The Zimmer Championship Course, laid out in ’09 and used previously for the Nationals in ’18, is a spectator-friendly rolling route on grass, if the weather is warm and dry — by no means a given in late fall in the heartland.
At past major competitions over the Zimmer route, packs have tended to stay large late into the running, and a salient feature of the course is its uphill approach to the finish.
Follow the links below to the 4 detailed sections of our Div. I-based NCAA Cross Country Preview:
| Men’s Teams | Women’s Teams |
| Men’s Individuals | Women’s Individuals |
| 2024 Collegiate Cross Country Schedule | ||
| Major Invitationals | ||
| September | ||
| 13 | Fighting Illini/Big 10 Preview | Savoy, Illinois |
| Spiked Shoe Invitational | University Park, Pennsylvania | |
| Texas A&M Invitational | College Station, Texas | |
| 14 | Virginia Invitational | Charlottesville, Virginia |
| 20 | Griak Invitational | Falcon Heights, Minnesota |
| 21 | McNichols Invitational | Terre Haute, Indiana |
| 27 | FSU Pre-Regional | Tallahassee, Florida |
| Gans Creek Invitational | Columbia, Missouri | |
| Nuttycombe Invitational | Verona, Wisconsin | |
| 28 | Cowboy Jamboree | Stillwater, Oklahoma |
| October | ||
| 04 | Piane Invitational | Notre Dame, Indiana |
| 05 | Short Invitational | Bethlehem, Pennsylvania |
| 11 | FSU Invite | Tallahassee, Florida |
| 18 | Barrios Invitational | College Station, Texas |
| Bradley Pink Classic | Peoria, Illinois | |
| Crimson Classic | Tuscaloosa, Alabama | |
| 19 | Panorama Farms Invitational | Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Pre-Nationals | Verona, Wisconsin | |
| Weis-Crockett Invitational | Stillwater, Oklahoma | |
| Div. I Conferences | ||
| October | ||
| 18 | IC4A/ECAC | Bronx, New York |
| 21 | SWAC | Tallahassee, Florida |
| November | ||
| 01 | ACC | Raleigh, North Carolina |
| Big 10 | Savoy, Illinois | |
| Big 12 | Waco, Texas | |
| Big East | Leesburg, Virginia | |
| Big Sky | Pocatello, Idaho | |
| Big South | Charleston, South Carolina | |
| Colonial | Elon, North Carolina | |
| Missouri Valley | Cedar Falls, Iowa | |
| Mountain West | Air Force Academy, Colorado | |
| Ohio Valley | Union City, Tennessee | |
| SEC | College Station, Texas | |
| Southland | New Orleans, Louisiana | |
| Sun Belt | Foley, Alabama | |
| WAC | Orem, Utah | |
| 02 | America East | St. Albans, Vermont |
| American Athletic | Wichita, Kansas | |
| Atlantic 10 | Mechanicsville, Virginia | |
| Atlantic Sun | DeLand, Florida | |
| Big West | Riverside, California | |
| Conference USA | Oxford, Alabama | |
| Heps / Ivy League | Princeton, New Jersey | |
| Horizon League | Green Bay, Wisconsin | |
| Metro Atlantic | Montgomery, New York | |
| Mid-American | Muncie, Indiana | |
| Patriot League | Easton, Pennsylvania | |
| Southern | Greenville, South Carolina | |
| Summit League | Vermillion, South Dakota | |
| West Coast | Stockton, California | |
| Collegiate Nationals | ||
| November | ||
| 09 | JUCO Championships | Richmond, Virginia |
| NCAA Div. II Regionals | 8 sites | |
| 15 | NCAA Div. I Regionals | 9 sites |
| —Great Lakes | Norton, Ohio | |
| —Mid-Atlantic | University Park, Pennsylvania | |
| —Midwest | Peoria, Illinois | |
| —Mountain | Reno, Nevada | |
| —Northeast | Hopkinton, New Hampshire | |
| —South | Tallahassee, Florida | |
| —South Central | College Station, Texas | |
| —Southeast | Rock Hill, South Carolina | |
| —West | Colfax, Washington | |
| 16 | NCAA Div. III Regionals | 10 sites |
| 22 | NAIA Championships | Columbia, Missouri |
| 23 | NCAA Championships | Verona, Wisconsin |
| NCAA II Championships | Sacramento, California | |
| NCAA III Championships | Terre Haute, Indiana | |