The 2024 NCAA XC Champs That Were: BYU’s Huge Improvement, Who Was the Coach of the Year, and the Star Milers Who Can (and Can’t) Run XC

The 2024 NCAA cross country season is in the books. The men’s and women’s national champions have been crowned, the seniors have run their final races, and the top athletes are already thinking about the first Boston University meet 11 days from now. The NCAA championships in Wisconsin were fantastic, as usual. Madison is a terrific college town, the Thomas Zimmer Course is excellent for spectating, the crowd was energetic and passionate, and the races delivered as they always do. We can’t wait for next year’s meet in Columbia, Missouri.

But before we switch over to indoor track, we had a few final thoughts to share about the 2024 NCAA XC championships, including explaining why track is not the same as cross country, revealing the top-20 finisher who called his shot on the LetsRun messageboard, letting you know about two runners who did something on Saturday that hasn’t been done since Matthew Centrowitz, before we give you a way-too-early look ahead to 2025 NCAAs.

BYU’s women’s title was powered by the two biggest improvements in the women’s field

BYU entered NCAAs ranked #1 on the women’s side but in our preview of the race, we noted that only one of their runners had ever finished in the top 65 at the NCAA meet before. When we asked BYU coach Diljeet Taylor if she was worried about that lack of success at the pre-race press conference, she said she trusted them to step up this time around.

“They haven’t done it until they’ve done it,” Taylor said. “A good time is tomorrow.”

BYU’s women slayed their NCAA demons in a big way in Madison. Carmen Alder, who was 203rd at NCAAs in 2022 and 246th last year, was 39th on Saturday – a 207-place improvement that was the best of anyone in this year’s field.

The second-biggest improvement also belonged to a BYU athlete: Riley Chamberlain, who finished 216th last year, moved up 185 places to finish 31st. And BYU’s top woman, Lexy Halladay-Lowry, improved 89 places from last year to finish 14th. In her four previous NCAA appearances (she got an extra year due to COVID), Halladay-Lowry finished 184th, 164th, 34th, and 103rd.

The composition of BYU’s men’s championship team

A number of men at BYU spend two years on an LDS mission before enrolling at school. That means BYU is typically one of the oldest teams in the NCAA. Here is how their top seven from this years’ meet breaks down – four of the seven (including three of BYU’s top four) were in their sixth, seventh, or eighth year post-high school.

It’s also worth noting that, just like BYU’s other men’s title squad in 2019, five of their seven runners are from Utah, including four of the top five (Bons is from Ohio).

That said, BYU is hardly the only top men’s team featuring older athletes. Iowa State finished 2nd at NCAAs and their top man, Said Mechaal (10th), is also 26 – he’s actually five months older than Clinger. The Cyclones’ #5, Gable Sieperda, is a 25-year-old seventh-year senior. And third-place Arkansas’s #2 runner, Kirami Yego, turns 26 in March.

Who was the NCAA women’s coach of the year?

Twenty-four hours after the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships ended, we received a text from a former NCAA-winning coach asking me who should be the NCAA women’s coach of the year: BYU’s Diljeet Taylor or West Virginia’s Sean Cleary?

A few minutes later, we received that coach’s answer:

Yes, that’s right. The West Virginia women didn’t qualify for NCAAs last year and weren’t ranked at all in the preseason (they received some votes and were #32 if you count back) but they ended up second at NCAAs. Remarkable.

How was that possible? Was it because the preseason coaches’ rankings aren’t very good and largely are based on the previous year – after all, NC State was No. 1 in the preseason when most didn’t think they had a real shot at winning – or was it the result of amazing coaching?

The answer is a little bit of both. Let’s break down the WVU lineup.

1. Ceili McCabe, 6th at NCAAs – Met expectations. It was far from a surprise that the Canadian steeplechase record holder (9:20.58) and Olympian was a top-10 finisher as she was 3rd in 2021.
2. Joy Naukot, 17th – Met expectations. The Kenyan enrolled at West Virginia this fall with pbs of 32:28 for 10k (road) and 69:26 for the half marathon. According to John Kellogg’s conversion chart, a 69:26 half marathon is equal to a 31:21 10k, which would be #3 in NCAA history. Only Parker Valby (30:50.43) and Lisa Koll (31:18.07) have run faster.
3. Sarah Tait, 34th – Exceeded expectations. The 4:35 miler (9:16 3k) from Scotland had never run at NCAAs before (16th at regionals last year).
4. Emily Bryce, 69th – Exceeded expectations. The 4:49 miler (9:46 3k) who, like Cleary and McCabe, is Canadian, came into the year with little NCAA XC success and zero NCAA championship experience, having finished just 62nd at Big 12s in 2022.
5. Madison Trippett, 89th – Exceeded expectations. The 4:17/9:29/16:30 West Virginia native had never finished higher than 50th at the regional meet for Richmond.
6. 6/7: West Virginia was only five deep as their #6 was in the 226th and their seventh was a DNF.

Given that West Virginia had McCabe and Naukot up front, they DEFINITELY should have been ranked in the preseason but maybe the voters didn’t know McCabe was returning or that Naukot was coming. If you had McCabe and Naukot finish where they did and then took three people who had never run before and had them walk the course, you’d still finish 28th in the country.

West Virginia ended up doing better at 3-4-5 than anticipated, which was great as there was no room for error after that.

(Are you enjoying this article? Then check out this week’s edition of our Track Talk podcast as we spend most of it talking NCAA XC)

Track isn’t the same as cross country / Some notable names far down in the results

One of the beautiful things about the NCAA cross country championships is that it draws athletes of all specialties and throws them in the same race on the same course at the same time. You’ll have milers mixing it up with 10k specialists, true freshmen with eighth-year seniors. We covered the top finishers in our race recaps on Saturday, but here are some other notable names that didn’t earn All-American honors.

Men

Women

While most of the top finishers at NCAA XC are also great track runners, the relationship doesn’t always hold true in the other direction, particularly if you are a 1500 or steeple specialist. BYU’s James Corrigan, a US Olympian in the steeple this year, was only 62nd (though he was BYU’s top man at NCAAs last year in 32nd). By the way, his training partner, Olympic steeple silver medalist Kenneth Rooks, only made BYU’s NCAA XC roster once in his career, finishing 35th last year before turning pro.

Washington’s Nathan Green, who ran 3:32.20 to finish 5th in the Olympic Trials 1500 this year, was 54th in his first NCAA XC appearance, while NCAA 1500 runner-up Elliott Cook of Oregon was 118th. And NAU’s Colin Sahlman (1:45/3:33 track pbs), who was the high school XC champion at the RunningLane meet in 2021, was 67th on Saturday (his best NCAA XC finish after finishing 151st in 2022 and not making NAU’s NCAA roster in 2023).

In theory it should be easier for women’s 1500 runners to make the jump to cross country since the women only race 6k, not 10k. But the three fastest 1500 runners in the NCAA right now by personal best (and three of the fastest ever) all raced on Saturday and none finished in the top 70. Combined, they have run NCAA XC nine times with a best finish of 56th:

One other note from the tables above: two of the NCAA’s top new men’s runners did not finish on Saturday. Eastern Kentucky’s Justine Kipkoech, who finished 3rd at Pre-Nats a month ago, dropped out after 8k. And Texas Tech’s Solomon Kipchoge, the 28-year-old freshman with a 59:37 half marathon pb, was listed as a DNF but does not have any splits and was reported on the broadcast as a DNS. LetsRun reached out to Texas Tech coach Jon Murray for an explanation but had not received a response as of publication.

Two milers who can run great cross country

One of the most beautiful moments from June’s US Olympic Trials came in the first semifinal of the men’s 1500 meters when collegians Ethan Strand of North Carolina and Liam Murphy of Villanova blew by a bunch of pros in the home straight to qualify for the final. It was the first time either man had qualified for a USA final. After crossing the line, the two men embraced immediately, half-running and half-hugging down the track as wide grins lit up their faces, knowing each knew exactly what the other was feeling in the moment.

Fast forward five months and Strand and Murphy again finished back to back, with Strand taking 8th at NCAA XC on Saturday and Murphy 9th. That’s some pretty great running for a pair of milers, and got us thinking: when was the last time someone qualified for a US 1500 final and finished top-10 at NCAA XC in the same year?

The answer: Matthew Centrowitz, who was 5th at USAs in 2010 and 10th at NCAA XC for Oregon that fall. In fact, Strand and Murphy were only the fifth and sixth men since Centro to finish top 10 at NCAA XC and qualify for a US 1500 final at any point in their careers.

Men who have finished top 10 at NCAA XC and made a US 1500 final (since 2010)

MB: Keep an eye on Liam Murphy, 9th place at NCAA XC and a future star

He called his shot

Speaking of 1500 guys who ran well at NCAAs, prior to the race, there was a thread on LetsRun.com entitled, “Are there any decent Brits in the NCAA xc champs?”

In that thread, Virginia Tech’s 19-year-old sophomore George Couttie, who has a 3:39 pb and was 11th at World Jrs last summer, called his shot. 

Couttie, who wasn’t even in the top 40 at DII nationals last year (although he did win his regional) for the University of Charleston (W. Va.), did exactly that as he finished 14th.

We confirmed with Couttie after the race that he did indeed publish it and will be giving him a registered login moving forward.

The men’s meet has become very top-heavy

When we analyzed the 2023 NCAA meet, we noted that five men’s schools have dominated recent editions of the championships: Northern Arizona, Oklahoma State, BYU, Arkansas, and Iowa State. That domination continued in 2024 as that group comprised four of the top five teams on Saturday (only OK State in 8th missed out).

Over the last six years, six schools have combined to take 25 of the 30 top-five places on the men’s side:

Top-5 NCAA men’s finishes, 2019-24
NAU: 6
OK State, Arkansas, BYU, Iowa State: 4
Stanford: 3
Colorado, Tulsa, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Wisconsin: 1
Rest of NCAA combined: 0

Stanford’s top-10 streak ends at 10

Speaking of cross country blue bloods, the Stanford men finished 12th, the first time the Cardinal had finished outside of the top 10 since 2013. No team, men’s or women’s, had a longer top-10 streak. BYU and NAU now own the longest men’s streaks at nine years each, while NC State has the longest women’s streak at six.

And the top American true freshmen were…

The top men’s American true freshman at NCAAs was NXN champion JoJo Jourdon in 47th. Jourdon was a key part of Wake Forest’s ACC title team and bounced back with a solid run at NCAAs after finishing just 40th at the Southeast Regional in his first 10k. The #2 American true freshman this year was Foot Locker champion Drew Griffith, who finished 90th for Notre Dame.

On the women’s side, the top American true freshman was Notre Dame’s Mary Bonner Dalton, a two-time Foot Locker finalist (4th last year), who finished 82nd overall. That’s the lowest finish by the top American freshman in the last 10 years and only the third time in that span that the top American freshman woman has failed to finish as an All-American (top 40).

However, Dalton was not the top freshman who graduated from an American high school in 2024; that would be Michigan State’s Rachel Forsyth, who finished 16th. Forsyth was 5th at NXN last year and 3rd at Foot Lockers while competing for Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Mich., but represents Canada internationally (she was born and raised in the US but her father is Canadian). And her most impressive feat this year came in a Canadian singlet as she earned the silver medal in the 1500m at the World U20 championships in Peru on August 31 – the first Canadian woman ever to medal in that event.

Perhaps as a result of her very long track season, Forsyth started slowly this fall, only finishing 31st at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invite and 53rd at Pre-Nats. But she ran her best when it mattered most, taking 4th at Big 10s and 16th at NCAAs.

Forsyth’s parents, Ian and Jessica, both ran at the University of Michigan (Ian ran the 1200 leg on Michigan’s 1995 NCAA-winning distance medley relay, handing off to fellow Canadian Kevin Sullivan), as did her older sister Anne (46th at NCAA XC in 2018). So how did Rachel end up at Michigan State? In part because she wanted to run alongside her other sister, Sarah, who is a junior with the Spartans.

Top American true freshmen at NCAA XC, 2020-24

*Harvard’s Graham Blanks finished 23rd in his first year of college but took a gap year after graduating high school in 2020

MB: American True Freshman at NCAA XC 

And the early favorites for 2025 are…

After each NCAAs, we like to take an early look at the next year’s championship by taking out the seniors and see who looks the best. Before the era of the transfer portal, this was a great way to handicap the following year.

On the women’s side, BYU is the early favorite for 2025. While two of their top five were seniors, that’s less than anyone else in the top five, and all five of their returners finished as one of the top 100 non-seniors in the meet this year.

# of wp,em seniors in top 40: 19
# of juniors in top 40:  5
# of sophomores in top 40:  8
# of freshmen in top 40:  8

For the men, the first three teams – BYU, Iowa State and Arkansas – all graduate three seniors from their top five while host Wisconsin loses its top two. That being said, once you take out the seniors, Wisconsin will have four returners from the top 50 for 2024. Wake Forest returns five from the top 100 and Oklahoma State should be in hunt once again as they have two of the top three returnees.

# of seniors in top 40: 19
# of juniors in top 40: 4
# of sophomores in top 40: 11
# of freshmen in top 40:  6

(Did you enjoy this article? Then check out this week’s edition of our Track Talk podcast as we spend most of it talking NCAA XC)

Men’s Race Recap & Analysis: Graham Blanks Repeats, BYU Wins as Year of Ed Eyestone Continues at 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships Graham Blanks joined the Gerry Lindgren, Steve Prefontaine and Conner Mantz club of repeat American winners as the year of Ed Eyestone continued with a BYU victory.

Women’s Race Recap & Analysis: BYU Women Earn Redemption, Alabama’s Doris Lemngole Wins Individual Title at 2024 NCAA Counry Championships BYU won its second title in the Diljeet Taylor era as Alabama’s Doris Lemngole moved up one spot from last year to win the crown.

Talk about the 2024 NCAA XC meet on our world-famous messageboard:

1. BYU men had olive oil on their arms and legs today?
2. NCAA XC 2024 is ruined
3. The Offficial 2024 NCAA D1 XC Championship Thread
4. BYU’s coach – is she really this arrogant?
5. Who is that Furman guy?