After changing its name twice in recent years, the meet, now in its 45th year, has emerged from a period of uncertainty and signed a new sponsorship deal with HOKA.

The OK State men & NAU women impressed. There was drama out West, where the Gonzaga & Portland men surprised as Oregon & Washington failed to qualify.

Skipping Nuttycombe could come back to haunt the Oregon men -- right now, they're projected to miss NCAAs. We project every team qualifier ahead of Friday's regionals.

Tuohy, who won the individual last year, opted to return to Raleigh and is one of four women on the NC State roster who finished in the top 20 last year.

Our pre/midseason top 10 is here. NAU is loaded, but OK State could be even better than '22, when they lost NCAAs to NAU on a tiebreaker.

Mahon, 60, has been to more than 52 meets a year over 38 seasons and has no plans on slowing down. *MB: We've found our sport's greatest fan. Mike Mahon just attended his 2,000 cross country meet.

As things stand, a man with a 28:30 pb and a woman with a 34:01 pb would be going to the 2023 Worlds thanks to their cross country rankings. And is US Army member Emmanuel Bor being punished for running World XC?

None of the top six finishers in the women's race had made a Worlds team before. 3rd through 7th in the men's race were separated by 0.8 of a second.

Kelati, Bor, the Youngs, NXN champ Irene Riggs, and FL champ Karrie Baloga will all be racing USA XC in Richmond this weekend. MB: 2023 USA XC is Saturday and it's LOADED (in the jr races). Official discussion thread

How does a pro team cross country race with thousands of running insiders in town ready to watch sound?

NAU is loaded once again. But so is Stanford, and OSU should be dangerous on its home course. Who will win it all in '22? *MB: Jonathan Gault unveils his top 10 men's NCAA xc teams. Agree or disagree?

"It's probably on the more unlikely side that we are putting him out there [this fall]," says NAU coach Mike Smith. *MB: Colin Sahlman may not race for NAU in 2022 - "It's probably on the more unlikely side that we are putting him out there."

We catch up with Cook, who made history by winning the RunningLane and Eastbay XC titles a week apart last fall, and will be going for Katelyn Tuohy's US HS indoor 5000 record this weekend. *MB: Natalie Cook runs 10mpw and yet she will be going for Katelyn Tuohy's 15:37 US HS record this weekend

If the IOC is serious about its claim the Olympics is about "diversity and unity", then adding traditional cross country to the Winter Olympics is a no-brainer as it will give an entire continent a reason to tune in as for the first time ever an African would win a Winter Olympic medal. Adding it to the summer Olympics as 4 x 2.5k relay would be a mistake. *MB: Seb Coe is right. Adding XC to the Winter Olympics would be AMAZING... But adding it to the summer as a relay would be a mistake

Newbury Park is already the greatest HS XC team ever, but they have one last meet on Saturday at the RunningLane Cross Country Championships, where coach Sean Brosnan has big dreams. "And I'll say it: we're going to try to go 1-2-3-4 out there," said Brosnan who also believes NP will have multiple guys threatening Dathan Ritzenhein's national 5k XC record of 14:10. *MB: Sean Brosnan: "And I'll say it: we're going to try to go 1-2-3-4 out there..There’s no reason I can’t have four guys under 8:30."

The NCAA men's xc is ABSOLUTELY LOADED this year, but NAU, which has won four of the last five NCAA titles, is our #1. However, Notre Dame returns six All-Americans, Oklahoma State and Stanford have improved, and BYU is looking for redemption. Another NAU title won't be easy.

Wolfe tested positive for COVID in July and still has to use an inhaler before races to counteract lingering effects. But that didn't stop him from putting together a stellar cross country season in 2020.

It has been 13+ years since Stanford won an NCAA XC team title, and no Stanford man or woman has ever won the individual title. Look for Ella Donaghu and this year's Cardinal team to change that.