| Individual Champions |
| Year |
Champion |
Time |
| 1938 |
Greg Rice, Notre Dame |
20:12.9 |
| 1939 |
Walter Mehl, Wisconsin |
20:30.9 |
| 1940 |
Gilbert Dodds, Ashland |
20:30.2 |
| 1941 |
Fred Wilt, Indiana |
20:32.1 |
| 1942 |
Ollie Hunter, Notre Dame |
20:18.0 |
| 1943 |
(no meet) |
– – – |
| 1944 |
Fred Feiler, Drake |
21:04.2 |
| 1945 |
Fred Feiler, Drake |
21:14.2 |
| 1946 |
Quentin Brelsford, Ohio Wesleyan |
20:22.9 |
| 1947 |
Jack Milne, North Carolina |
20:41.1 |
| 1948 |
Bob Black, Rhode Island |
19:52.3 |
| 1949 |
Bob Black, Rhode Island |
20:25.7 |
| 1950 |
Herb Semper, Kansas |
20:31.7 |
| 1951 |
Herb Semper, Kansas |
20:09.5 |
| 1952 |
Charles Capozzoli, Georgetown |
19:36.7 |
| 1953 |
Wes Santee, Kansas |
19:43.5 |
| 1954 |
Allen Frame, Kansas |
19:54.2 |
| 1955 |
Deacon Jones, Iowa |
19:57.4 |
| 1956 |
Walter McNew, Texas |
19:55.7 |
| 1957 |
Max Truex, Southern California |
19:12.3 |
| 1958 |
Forddy Kennedy, Michigan State |
20:07.1 |
| 1959 |
Al Lawrence, Houston |
20:35.7 |
| 1960 |
Al Lawrence, Houston |
19:28.2 |
| 1961 |
Dale Story, Oregon State |
19:46.6 |
| 1962 |
Tom O’Hara, Loyola (IL) |
19:20.3 |
| 1963 |
Vic Zwolak, Villanova |
19:35.0 |
| 1964 |
Elmore Banton, Ohio |
20:07.5 |
| 1965 |
John Lawson, Kansas |
29:24.0 |
| 1966 |
Gerry Lindgren, Washington State |
29:01.4 |
| 1967 |
Gerry Lindgren, Washington State |
30:45.6 |
| 1968 |
Mike Ryan, Air Force |
29:16.8 |
| 1969 |
Gerry Lindgren, Washington State |
28:59.2 |
| 1970 |
Steve Prefontaine, Oregon |
28:00.2 |
| 1971 |
Steve Prefontaine, Oregon |
29:14 |
| 1972 |
Neil Cusack, East Tenn. State |
28:23 |
| 1973 |
Steve Prefontaine, Oregon |
28:14.8 |
| 1974 |
Nick Rose, Western Kentucky |
29:22.00 |
| 1975 |
Craig Virgin, Illinois |
28:23.3 |
| 1976 |
Henry Rono, Washington State |
28:06.6 |
| 1977 |
Henry Rono, Washington State |
28:33.5 |
| 1978 |
Alberto Salazar, Oregon |
29:29.7 |
| 1979 |
Henry Rono, Washington State |
28:19.6 |
| 1980 |
Suleiman Nyambui, UTEP |
29:04.0 |
| 1981 |
Mathews Motshwarateu, UTEP |
28:45.6 |
| 1982 |
Mark Scrutton, Colorado |
30:12.6 |
| 1983 |
Zakariah Barie, UTEP |
29:20.0 |
| 1984 |
Ed Eyestone, BYU |
29:28.8 |
| 1985 |
Timothy Hacker, Wisconsin |
29:17.88 |
| 1986 |
Aaron Ramirez, Arizona |
30:27.53 |
| 1987 |
Joe Falcon, Arkansas |
29:14.97 |
| 1988 |
Bob Kennedy, Indiana |
29:20 |
| 1989 |
John Nuttall, Iowa State |
29:30.55 |
| 1990 |
Jonah Koech, Iowa State |
29:05 |
| 1991 |
Sean Dollman, Western Kentucky |
30:17.1 |
| 1992 |
Bob Kennedy, Indiana |
30:15.3 |
| 1993 |
Josephat Kapkory, Washington State |
29:32.4 |
| 1994 |
Martin Keino, Arizona |
30:08.7 |
| 1995 |
Godfrey Siamusiye, Arkansas |
30:09 |
| 1996 |
Godfrey Siamusiye, Arkansas |
29:49 |
| 1997 |
Mebrahtom Keflezighi, UCLA |
28:54 |
| 1998 |
Adam Goucher, Colorado |
29:26 |
| 1999 |
David Kimani, South Alabama |
30:06.6 |
| 2000 |
Keith Kelly, Providence |
30:14.5 |
| 2001 |
Boaz Cheboiywo, Eastern Michigan |
28:47 |
| 2002 |
Jorge Torres, Colorado |
29:04.7 |
| 2003 |
Dathan Ritzenhein, Colorado |
29:14.1 |
| 2004 |
Simon Bairu, Wisconsin |
30:37.7 |
| 2005 |
Simon Bairu, Wisconsin |
29:15.9 |
| 2006 |
Josh Rohatinsky, BYU |
30:44.9 |
| 2007 |
Josh McDougal, Liberty |
29:22.4 |
| 2008 |
Galen Rupp, Oregon |
29:03.2 |
| 2009 |
Samuel Chelanga, Liberty |
28:41.3 |
| 2010 |
Samuel Chelanga, Liberty |
29:22.2 |
| 2011 |
Lawi Lalang, Arizona |
28:44.1 |
| 2012 |
Kennedy Kithuka, Texas Tech |
28:31.3 |
| 2013 |
Edward Cheserek, Oregon |
29:41.1 |
| 2014 |
Edward Cheserek, Oregon |
30:19.4 |
| 2015 |
Edward Cheserek, Oregon |
28:45.8 |
| 2016 |
Patrick Tiernan, Villanova |
29:22.0 |
| 2017 |
Justyn Knight, Syracuse |
29:00.1 |
| 2018 |
Morgan McDonald, Wisconsin |
29:08.3 |
| 2019 |
Edwin Kurgat, Iowa State |
30:32.7 |
| 2020 |
Conner Mantz, BYU |
29:26.1 |
| 2021 |
Conner Mantz, BYU |
28:33.1 |
| 2022 |
Charles Hicks, Stanford |
28:43.6 |
| 2023 |
Graham Blanks, Harvard |
28:37.7 |