The 80th NCAA Cross Country Championships in Madison, Wisconsin, had one race go totally against form and the other totally hold form, all on a classic Midwestern late fall day in a fantastic atmosphere. It was the most fun I’ve yet had at an NCAAs.

COMPLETE RESULTS

WOMEN’S RACE – ALL UPSETS

The women’s team favorites were New Mexico and Oregon. They were #1 and #2 in the coaches’ poll, and 87% of NCAA champions came from the top two since the advent of the women’s poll. They both won their conference meets, the Mountain West and Pac-12 respectively, and 35 of the 37 women’s NCAA champions since 1981 won their conference meets. It looked pretty clear-cut as a two-team race.

The team standings shown at the 2k mark of the 6k race showed Oregon leading with 157, Colorado second with 185, Arkansas third with 183, and New Mexico fourth with 251. That score for New Mexico was a little concerning given the Lobos had three women in the top twenty, but it was early going and there was plenty of time for their 4th and 5th runners to move up.

At 4k the scores showed that Colorado had taken the race by the horns: 80 points for the Buffaloes, 140 for New Mexico, 147 for Oregon. Coach Mark Wetmore’s teams have a reputation for finishing strong, and this team underlined that reputation. At the finish it was Colorado 65, New Mexico 103, Oregon 160.

65 points is a very low score for an NCAA Championships, the third-lowest women’s score under the current 31-team championship format. Colorado’s dominance was so complete that their sixth runner finished before anyone else’s fourth. That sixth runner, Val Constien, finished 30th overall and was only a step behind 4th-place Michigan’s first runner.

New Mexico, the defending champions and #1-ranked team in the final poll, could hardly be accused of underperforming. Their 103 points was only 13 more than last year’s winning total, and the lowest runner-up score ever in the 31-team format. More often than not it is good enough to win, and coach Joe Franklin said he was “over the moon” with their performance and that “there was nothing else we could have done”.

The individual race is easier to follow visually, and that one was similarly thrilling with a hard finish. A large lead pack of 11 women never really broke up until New Mexico’s Weni Kelati surged away from the field with about a mile to go. That stretched it out and only five were able to remain in the chase: Anna Rohrer (Notre Dame), Erica Burk (BYU), Dani Jones (Colorado), Jessica Hull (Oregon), and Alicia Monson (Wisconsin).

Kelati maintained her lead until the last quarter-mile, when Burk led the charge to close the gap. Jones followed and unleashed a massive kick on the final uphill stretch to the finish. She flew past Kelati and her lead became so large that she looked over her shoulder and eased off to the finish.

Dani Jones is the 2018 NATIONAL CHAMPION! pic.twitter.com/baT2LeXzlk

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) November 17, 2018

Colorado pulled off the double victory, both using the classic cross country strategy: get into position, be patient, strike when ready. It is a simple plan, but not an easy one.

MEN’S RACE – NO SUPRISES

Just like in the women’s race, the men’s race was expected as a two-team battle, this time between #1 Northern Arizona and #2 BYU. 90% of men’s champions since the advent of the coaches’ poll were ranked in the top two. All of the last 44 men’s champions also won their conference meet; NAU won the Big Sky and BYU won the West Coast over #3 Portland. 26 of the last 31 men’s champions had finished in the top four the previous year (and the other five missed it by unusually small margins), and last year’s top four were NAU, Portland, and BYU.

NAU led the team scoring at every checkpoint of the 10k race, always in double digits while the rest were in triple digits. BYU was back in eighth at 2k, but moved up to third at 4k and 6k and into second at 8k. Portland was second until being bumped back to third by BYU in the late stages. The only surprise of any kind in the men’s team race was that #4-ranked Wisconsin finished eighth despite running on their home course.

Neither was there a surprise in the men’s individual race, though it was still dramatic. Last year the NAU duo of Tyler Day and Matthew Baxter made a hard push from early in the race and they were rewarded with second and third place. Baxter warned in Friday’s press conference that a repeat of that strategy was unlikely, and they held to it. A lead pack of a dozen men did not lose anyone until the final mile.

Coming around the final turn to the 300-meter straightaway finish, the first to go to the lead was Iowa State’s Edwin Kurgat, who later admitted “I think I went too early”. He was caught by Stanford’s Grant Fisher, one of the pre-race favorites, but the man with a full head of steam was Wisconsin’s Morgan McDonald. The Badger didn’t take the lead until very late but it was a clear win, and the pro-Wisconsin crowd lost their minds.

MORGAN ● FREAKING ● MCDONALD pic.twitter.com/CsJ9UEXEeJ

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) November 17, 2018

A WINNING ATMOSPHERE

"I don't think I've ever seen an NCAA crowd like this. The numbers, I don't know, but it was an incredible event. To host this at home is just amazing."
– @WiscoByrne

Shoutout to all of the fans who came out to #NCAAXC today! 👐❤️ pic.twitter.com/gTsAp8CSli

— Wisconsin Track & Field (@BadgerTrackXC) November 17, 2018

Old friends have “guy weekends”. Some go on fishing trips, some go to Vegas. My friends and I go to track meets. This was the sixteenth NCAA cross country I’ve attended with John, including the last fifteen in a row. If you’ve never been to one of these you’re missing out. Overall, I’d say this was probably the best one yet — it was a rockin’ good time.

It was the first NCAA Championships ever held at Wisconsin’s Thomas Zimmer Championship Course. If I understand correctly, the facility was first planned as a golf course but the developer ran out of money, so the university bought it and turned it into a permanent cross country course on the model of Indiana State’s Lavern Gibson course. Purpose-built cross country facilities such as these two are likely to host nearly all future NCAA Championships.

As a facility I think UW’s Zimmer course is second only to ISU’s Gibson course. The latter is striking in its vastness and open layout, which allows the less-than-speedy fan to observe the entire race from the finish area. The Zimmer course is on a smaller footprint and portions go through wooded areas, so one needs to be either swift and energetic to see the race, or stay put by the video boards near the finish. Another small drawback is that the Zimmer course has insufficient parking so fans are bussed in from remote lots, which means there is no pre-meet tailgating action.

As far as the course itself goes, it has its own special challenges. There are a couple of sharp upslopes but I still wouldn’t call it hilly. The difference between the highest and lowest points are less than at ISU. But the course never levels out, it’s always either going up or down. There are more turns, and more changes in footing, and it goes into the woods and out into the open. It never allows a runner to become comfortable (if there is such a thing at a national championship race) and this would be doubly true on a windy day.

But in terms of the overall atmosphere, Madison is the best host in a very long time. It’s bigger than Terre Haute or Ames or Greenville so hotel space is not as challenging to find, yet smaller than Louisville so the meet breaks into the public consciousness. Madison is a major college sports town, which means it’s a fun place to go.

I hear they have beer in Madison. My NCAAXC expedition team is investigating the matter.

— Jesse Squire (@tracksuperfan) November 16, 2018

And it’s the home of the Wisconsin Badgers, the most consistently excellent cross country program of the last half century.

Party crashing time pic.twitter.com/kV3sThdkx6

— Jesse Squire (@tracksuperfan) November 17, 2018

The crowds appeared the best I’ve ever seen at an NCAA Championships, and they were the most energetic. A roar went up every time PA announcer Mike Jay mentioned Wisconsin, and they really went crazy when McDonald made his final push to victory.

To my eye this appears the largest spectator turnout at any of the 16 NCAA XC Championships I’ve attended. pic.twitter.com/a5oZfDQ7w6

— Jesse Squire (@tracksuperfan) November 17, 2018

The weather? My opinion is that if you’re thinking about the weather then you’re not thinking about racing. It snowed a bit and the footing got a little dicey, but warmer weather has produced worse footing. It was cold (28 degrees) but with very little wind, and the 36F/20mph wind at the 2016 championships felt much colder. All sport includes the classic conflict of man versus man, and endurance sports add in the conflict of man versus self. Cross country is special among these because it requires the additional conflict of man versus nature. Like Yuki Kawauchi said of this year’s Boston Marathon, “for me these are the best conditions possible”.

As it has for more than a hundred years, the collegiate cross country season drew to a close less than a week before the best holiday of the year.

• By Jesse Squire
• In NCAA

Today is Day 4 of the NCAA outdoor track and field championships and the wommen’s champions will be crowned. This is the last meet ever held in the historic version of Hayward Field. On Wednesday I helped Chris Chavez preview the meet on the CITIUS podcast, and below is everything you need to know about today’s action.

HOW TO WATCH

2:20pm EDT (11:20am PDT) at ESPN3.com — separate feeds for heptathlon and each field event
6:30pm EDT (3:30pm PDT) on ESPN2, switches to ESPN at 7:00

You’ll also want to follow the live results and use our handy visual schedule:

The USTFCCCA’s National Championships Central is a treasure trove of information.

Here is a fun and useful team scoring tracker with several different ways to project team scores–you can even customize it. It will be updated after each semifinal and final.

TEAMS TO WATCH

Any of five teams is capable of winning this meet.
Georgia has four chances at first or second in the heptathon, triple jump, and 400 and 200. The downside of this is that they have little room for improvement.

Stanford is depending on the discus and distance events. Those are relatively volatile events where they could score a lot or not much at all.

Kentucky is in a solid position with heavy favorites in both hurdles and dependable relays too. The Wildcats have upside potential in a few other events as well.

As with their men’s team, USC is going to score a boatload of points in the sprints, relays, and 400 hurdles.

Oregon is the team with the most potential to outscore the projection, though they are favored to win the 800 with Sabrina Sutherland and the 4×400.

Below are my projections for today. A blank means no qualifiers, a zero means qualifiers who are not expected to score.

EVENT PREVIEWS

LSU already broke the 4×100 relay collegiate record earlier this year, so another record is quite possible. This first race of the day has three of the five team contenders and will be a game-changer right out of the gate.

The sprints have a pair of stars who will not meet head-to-head. LSU’s Aleia Hobbs is capable of breaking the collegiate record. Harvard’s Gabby Thomas is a long-sprint specialist, and she may have her hands full with Georgia’s Lynna Irby.

It is not hyperbole to say that Kentucky has two of the world’s best in the 100 hurdles and 400 hurdles. Both Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and Sydney McLaughlin are the current world leaders in their events and a PR by either would be a collegiate record. McLaughlin has a very real chance at a world record.

USC’s Kendall Ellis is only the second collegian to ever run under 50.00 for the 400 meters, but Georgia freshman Lynna Irby isn’t that far off either. Oregon has two finalists and needs big points.

The 1500 meters and 800 meters are unpredictable events that have major team implications for Stanford and Oregon. There probably isn’t a strong favorite in either race. The sentimental favorite in the 1500 is Toledo’s Janelle Noe, who survived life-threatening burns to make an improbable run to the final.

The long-distance races, the steeplechase and 5000 meters, could be interesting. Boise State’s Allie Ostrander has never lost a steeplechase final, which is a far more meaningful stat than her fast times. She’ll try to come back later in the day and run the 5000; she did so last year and took 1st and 4th. Many of the women who went to the wall in Thursday’s 10,000 are also in this 5k, so it’s anyone’s guess how it will turn out. Stanford and Oregon have scoring chances here.

The 4×400 is always the best race of any meet, and this could be one of the classic races of all time. The team championship will almost assuredly be in play, and two of the three fastest collegians of all time are running for USC and Kentucky. It will be a wild and wooly conclusion to the last meet ever held in the historic version of Hayward Field.

• By Jesse Squire
• In NCAA

What happened at yesterday’s NCAA Championships? Here is your short summary of the conclusion to the men’s competition.

Complete results

GEORGIA WINS IN UPSET

The Georgia Bulldogs won the team title in an upset. They never trailed on the scoredboard at any time during the meet. It was their first men’s championship; their previous was sixth (last year and 2014).

The Dawgs did it by exceeding expectations in the field events. Denzel Comenentia won a hammer-shot double on Wednesday, Karl Saluri and Johannes Erm finished 2nd and 3rd in the decathlon on Thursday, and Keenon Laine and Antonios Merlos took 3rd and 5th in the high jump yesterday. Those alone were enough points to win, and eight more points in the 100 and 200 gave Georgia a comfortable ten-point margin.

The Florida Gators had been the pre-meet favorites, but did not score as much as expected in the long jump, high jump, and triple jump. Their second-place finish is their tenth straight trip to the podium for one of the trophies awarded to the top four teams.

Houston and USC rounded out the top four. The Cougars represent the first mid-major university on the podium since 2005, and it is just the second time they’ve ever done it (the other was 1959). This is USC’s 48th top-four finish but just the third time they’ve done it this century.

RECORDS DESTROYED

The evening was cool and rainy, so record expectations were dampened. But the records fell and in amazing fashion.

Houston got the meet off to a rousing start with a collegiate record (and Hayward Field record) in the 4×100 by running 38.17. Ohio State surprised everyone with a second-place finish, pushing traditional sprint powerhouses Florida and Arkansas to 3rd and 4th. It should be noted that first and second were the champions of the Penn and Drake Relays respectively, and the winners of Arkansas’ “National Relay Championships” were not, in fact, national champions.

The next record to fall was in the 400 meters, one I mentioned as a possibility in the CITIUS Mag podcast. USC’s Michael Norman ran a stunning 43.61, but what was even more stunning was that he had to work to win the race. Auburn’s Akeem Bloomfield and Nathon Allen were close as the trio came off the turn before Norman powered away down the homestretch. Norman broke the Hayward Field record held by Michael Johnson, which puts it all in perspective. Bloomfield ran 43.94, also under the old record, and Allen was third with 44.13.

Without a doubt the performance of the night came in the 400 hurdles and from another USC Trojan. Rai Benjamin was already the only collegian to ever run sub-48.00 before the NCAA Championships, so you figured he might kick it up a notch at the NCAAs. Did he ever. He ran 47.02, the second-fastest ever run. Anywhere. Ever. It wasn’t just a collegiate record or Hayward Field record, it was a record for the entire western hemisphere.

So with those two record runs you figured USC might be decent at the 4×400, and they did not disappoint. When USC handed off to Norman with a lead at the last exchange everyone thought it was over, but Texas A&M’s Devin Dixon closed the gap over the first 300 meters before Norman pulled away as he did in the open 400. USC ran 2:59.00, breaking LSU’s collegiate record from 2005, and Texas A&M slipped under 3:00 as well.

DISTANCE UPSETS

Two middle distance races featured similar upsets. New Mexico’s Josh Kerr (1500) and UTEP’s Michael Saruni (800) both set collegiate records this year and both won their events at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Both put themselves in difficult situations they couldn’t bail themselves out of.

Kerr had mentioned that he might attack his own collegiate record, but he was not able to get to the lead in the first 100 meters of the race and instead settled into the middle of the pack. The pace was very slow and that meant a lot of runners all trying to occupy the same space. Kerr found himself seventh at the bell and worked hard to get out of a box and did more work to get to the lead with 200 to go. Kerr faded down the homestretch, as did everyone else except Wisconsin’s Oliver Hoare. The Badger ran his last lap in 53.01.

In the 800, Saruni similarly found himself back in the pack but not because the pace was slow. Texas A&M’s Devin Dixon led through a 51.09 first lap and Saruni was a well-situated fourth. His fatal mistake was making a too-aggressive move and doing it too soon. He overtook the lead with 200 to go and was fading by the homestretch, where he was passed by Penn State’s Isaiah Harris. Both struggled over the last 50 meters, but Harris held on for the national championships win that had eluded him for so long. He had twice been a runner-up and twice more he finished fourth.

The men’s 5000 feature three men who have won NCAA championships in Syracuse’s Justyn Knight, Stanford’s Grant Fisher, and Northern Arizona’s Andy Trouard. None of them won, instead the title went to Stanford’s Sean McGorty. The pace wasn’t painfully slow as in the 1500 but it still wasn’t eliminating many runners. McGorty got to the lead at the right time (700 meters to go), took charge of the race, and repelled the challengers. In many ways it is an unsurprising upset, if such a thing is possible; he was the NCAA runner-up in this event two years ago but spent much of the time from then until now dealing with an Achilles injury.

HOUSTON HAS EACH OTHER’S BACKS

The Houston Cougars were rated as having a small chance at the championship if they had extraordinary results. They got off to a great start with a win and a record in the 4×100. Next up was the steeplechase, where Brian Barraza was one of many contenders for the win. He ran from the front and built a large lead – and then disaster struck with 300 meters to go. His lead leg didn’t make it over the barrier and he took a hard fall. Dazed and hurt, he got back to his feet but finished tenth and out of the scoring.

Two events later came the 100 meters, where Houston had three finalists. Cameron Burrell and Eli Hall finished first and second to put the Cougars back into contention. And then Burrell said this to ESPN’s Jon Anderson:

.@UHCougarTF's @camxburrell dedicated his win in the men's 100m to @brazzledazzle5k. pic.twitter.com/X9ONG0YzkV

— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) June 9, 2018

UPSETS IN THE FIELD

Field events are full of as much drama as running events, though you’d never know that from the “oh here’s the winner” field event coverage on ESPN’s broadcasts. All three were upsets.

The high jump went to Kansas State freshman Tejaswin Shankar. The 19-year-old from New Delhi became just the third Indian to ever win an NCAA championship. He flew under the radar because he missed the NCAA indoor championships in favor of going to the Commonwealth Games. He had no misses through his first four heights and was the only man to clear 2.24 meters (7′ 4¼”).

Memphis’ Luke Vaughn was staring elimination in the face when he sat tenth in the third round of the discus. His next throw not only rescued him but put him in first for good.

It wasn’t much of an upset for Texas A&M’s Tahar Triki to win the triple jump, but he did beat the reigning NCAA indoor and outdoor champions and did it in his first full season of NCAA competition. He took the lead on his first jump and never relinquished it.

• By Jesse Squire
• In NCAA