Men running outside of course. DQs coming?

Iona wins.

Apparently course cutting is enforced as well as the age limit rules

There is nobody to blame here except the athletes that failed to compete with integrity. The boundaries were clearly marked. No, it wasn't limited to only international athletes. I hope they do levy DQs

they need to put up a big fence like LaVerne Gibson has probably the only option, assuming they don’t wanna have to actually deal with this in the future

Idk what I even watched. They run 28:33 on grass somehow with Habtom sandbagging 9700 worth of the race, probably ran 9850m with all the course cutting....5 Americans in the top 30....how lame. I watched DII and it was a much more respectable and clean race with all runners appearing to stay within the marked course, I'm not sure how they can't afford to place physical boundaries on the course. How much is a roll of caution tape these days?

It doesn't need to be that complicated. Flagging tends to be the easiest and cheapest solution, but cones work as long as they are spaced tightly enough. The hay bales would have worked if there were a lot more of them.

If the concern is aesthetics for TV, then you need way more officials and volunteers in the key places where athletes would be more likely to "accidentally" cut the course.

The point is the "No Calls" for DQs, and there will be none. No calls from coaches,.athletes or officials. Just don't rock the boat because of fear for standing up for what's right in overwhelming odds that dont think its all that important.

Call it romantics if you will. And yes, its been going on for a long time, like forever. The ideal is that we can get better. But we aren't. Play it off like we dont have to if you choose. The result is a continual decline. Get to the root of the problem, seek the truth and fix it because you can. Or, just settle for less and complain.

All they had to do was take away the opportunity for temptation and make it a fair race/course for everyone and they chose not to.

Which age limit rules?

According to the NCAA, there is no set age limit for any athletes. However, Division I athletes are required to enroll in school one calendar year after high school graduation and then have just five years to complete a typical four-year degree.

Since video footage of their competitions is readily available for public scrutiny, the NCAA would do itself a favor if they would consider being more transparent about situations like this so fans, coaches, student athletes and officials knew how perceived rule violations were handled. Having worked numerous NCAA Championships over the years, I'm curious about quite a few things (citing the relevant rule book entries for each):

Did any members of the NCAA Committee have any concerns about the possibility of this happening when they did their course walkthrough a few days prior to the meet or did they feel the taller grass + white line + periodic hay bales was sufficient to satisfy Rule 18 Section 3 of the rule book?

Were there umpires assigned to the area of the course where these perceived violations were taking place on every lap the runners came through? (Rule 20 Section 7 Article 1)

Were there no perceived rule violations observed by any umpires? If any umpire observed what we can all clearly see in the broadcast, did they write it up and submit to the head umpire? (Rule 20 Section 7 Article 2) According to the Runners World article, the NCAA's position is no reports were made to the referee by an official, so the referee (by Rule 21 Section 5) is unable to render a ruling.

Were there no protests filed by any coach/team on this issue? This is the other "trigger" that would allow the referee to render a ruling. It appears that there were no protests filed within the protest period so the referee also could not render any ruling via this pathway outlined in the rule book.

Over the years, I've seen the NCAA committee make efforts to make sure the timing crew is up to par, the starters are sufficient enough in number to see when/if a recall is needed, the course width/first turn is designed appropriately and most recently the clerking process is done in a way that is efficient and thorough....it now appears there needs to be a focus on ensuring umpires do the work the rule book prescribes for them. Yes - our sport has always been unregulated "out there on the course where no one can see what is happening" - but now we can all see the entire race via lead cart cameras, cameras on aerial lifts and most recently drone footage. And I'm hopeful that they learned their lesson that the utilization of fencing, flagging, ropes etc is necessary. Umpiring now needs to be taken more seriously and course setup needs to be buttoned up.

Neither of these improvements are ground breaking or new - in fact there are clues in the host operations manual that make it clear someone at some point already thought this through. Host operations manual you ask? Here ya go:

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/championships/sports/crosstrack/d1/crosscountry/2025-26D1XCC_HostOperationsManual.pdf

Maybe moving forward we won't consider umpires an afterthought that relegates them to being listed as "other officials" like they currently are down in Section 21? And perhaps stronger consideration will be given when selecting/placing these umpires to the note that "the most experienced" umpires should be assigned to major turns on the course....

And while no one ever pays much attention to the stuff buried in the appendices, Appendix A lists no fewer than FOUR different types of equipment that could be used as a barrier to keep athletes on course. Hay bales is not one of them.

Lastly - even thought it appears that no action was taken during the meet weekend, that doesn't mean that this is all over for these athletes/institutions. There is a process used for dealing with "Misconduct" that is outlined in numerous locations throughout NCAA documentation because it is part of the NCAA By Laws....and it we know it is important because they always copy/paste it into the participant manuals for each championship like they did for this meet:

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/championships/sports/crosstrack/d1/crosscountry/2025-26D1XCC_ParticipantManualMissouri.pdf

Bottom line - we all need to now watch to see if those in a position to make sure this doesn't happen again take the necessary steps to protect the integrity of our sport. For DI - they are listed here:

https://web1.ncaa.org/committees/#/reports/roster?committeeCode=1TRACKOC

would letsrun be up in arms then? No americans in their top 7 but they're white so would lrc care?

Per XC Rules, the you can be within roughly 1m of the line. The line isn't the definitely lane. They're all fine.

Thanks for the video! Here's who I've got. Corrections welcomed - I tried to get it right but a couple names could be wrong.

First video (0.8k):
Timothy Chesondin (Arkansas)
Brian Masai (Arkansas)
Ian Kibiwot (Louisville)
One from Tulane (Bernard Cheruiyot or Silas Kiptanui)
Vincent Chirchir (New Mexico)

Second video (2.8k):
Ian Kibiwot (Louisville)
Two from Oklahoma
One from Tulane (Bernard Cheruiyot or Silas Kiptanui)
One from New Mexico (I'd guess Mathew Kosgei)
A couple more further back in the pack at the start of the turn I can't see

Third video (3.8k):
Timothy Chesondin (Arkansas)
One from Tulane
One from Oklahoma

Fourth video (7.8k):
Cutting from the start of the turn:
Timothy Chesondin (Arkansas)
Frederick Kipkosgei (Hofsra)
Kidus Misgina (Ole Miss)
One from Iowa State (either Robin Kwemoi Bera or Meshack Kimutai)

Cut in further into the turn:
Foad Messaoudi (Oklahoma State)
Joash Ruto (Iowa State) gets his own punishment by tripping (and never actually went inside a hay bale, just straight into one he didn't see)
Meshack Kimutai (Iowa State) next to him does cut inside
Dismus Lokira (Alabama)

It's not cutting inside of hay bales and maybe less egregious, but a bunch of the lead pack slightly cuts the inside of the next (non-baled, opposite direction) turn at 7.9k, including:
Evans Kurui (Washington State)
Denis Kipngetich (Oklahoma State)
Solomon Kipchoge (Washington State)
And yes, even a small cut corner there there by Habtom Samuel (New Mexico)
Brian Kimutai (Eastern Kentucky) and a couple more
Behind the lead pack, Joash Ruto (Iowa State) cuts it more egregiously while catching up from his fall. Behind him, also cutting that turn, is:
Nickson Chebii (Auburn) - also more egregious
Taha Er Raouy (Eastern Kentucky)
Silas Kiptanui (Tulane)
Laban Kipkemboi (Oklahoma State)

I don't need to see a replay. I could see it time and time and time again live on ESPNU. The commentators did finally say something about the course-cutting.

It was disgusting, and I am disappointed if not one coach at the meet filed a protest.

This is the pinnacle of college cross country?

Ahahahahahaha

Didn't LetsRun have boots on the ground in the persons of two of their outstanding reporters at the meet? Weren't there interviews of a number of the coaches?

Seems as if this might have been an opportune time to ask a question or two about the runners off the course.

course, doping, all the same thing. cheating is part of the american college experience.

I was surprised to see athletes blatantly doing this in a national meet with so many cameras around. Coaches of the involved runners should act with integrity and withdraw from their team scoring any athletes who were found cheated in the various race videos. But I know they won't. College athletics is supposed to be about more than just winning. It stands to reason that an athlete who cheats on the course is probably more prone to cheat in other areas of life, including the use of PEDs in order to gain an artificial advantage.

Funny because in all my experience with road racing, it was always the Kenyans ADDING distance to the course by not running point to point.