By Audrey Allen, David Melly, and Paul Hof-Mahoney.

Any fan of collegiate cross-country is aware of the dynamics that the two-kilometer-sized gender disparity in race distances creates and perpetuates. The men race 8K and the women race 6K, then the gap widens in the postseason when the men move up to 10K for regional and national meets. Some might call this divide the result of tradition, but it’s only 20ish years old – the last increase in distance we got was tacking that last kilometer onto the women’s 5K back in 2000. So with golf courses around the country getting a mow and top-sevens dusting off their spikes to kick off the fall season, it’s worth revisiting how we got here and where we might go.

Women’s distance running looks very different now than it did in 2000. The 5000m world record was 28 seconds – almost half a lap of the track! – slower than it is today. And the seismic changes over the last decade or so were solidified in a year where the Caitlin Clark of track and field, Parker Valby, put the NCAA records in the 5000m and 10,000m under 15 and 31 minutes, respectively, for the first time in history. The greatest miler in the world, Faith Kipyegon, is also the reigning World champion and Olympic silver medalist at 5000m, and women running sub-29 minute 10Ks on the roads and the track is now a thing.

So why hasn’t NCAA cross country gotten the memo that this particular wing of the sport has leveled up?

We’ve all heard the usual arguments for equalization: women shouldn’t be held to lower standards, there’s a gendered gap that exists in the extra 10 minutes or so of screentime the men get in the spotlight at NCAAs, and it’s a pain in the ass for meet directors to map out two separate courses. The simple solution would be to standardize everything.

But where to equalize is a more interesting question. The USATF and World XC championships on the pro level contest both races over 10K. The obvious choice would be to do what NIL and pay-to-play have done in other sports – make everything on the collegiate level look as similar to the pros as possible since we’re increasingly blurring the lines between amateur and professional competition anyway.

But there’s one big flaw: a national championship to determine the best runner in the country over 10 kilometers already exists; it just happens to be contested over 25 laps during the outdoor track season. There are different skillsets and strengths for grass and hill specialists versus track runners, but doesn’t making everyone run 10K in cross-country more or less replicate the same outcomes with the same people? Whereas over 6K, strength-oriented milers and low-volume 5000m runners have a fighting shot – and in the spirit of pure racing, embracing an “off-distance” lowers the annoying emphasis on time comparisons.

In theory, standardizing at 6K should make championships more broadly competitive. But in practice? With help from CITIUS MAG statistics junkie Paul Hof-Mahoney, we looked at all the runners over the last 14 seasons (the last time the All-American criteria was updated) who accomplished the double feat of First-Team All-American honors in either the mile indoors or 1500m outdoors AND cross country.