Taylor wants to retake their crown. The College of Idaho needs to defend theirs. Milligan has a three-peat to finish. On November 22nd, the NAIA Cross Country National Championships will take place in Columbus, MO and the race for first is fiercer than ever.
Women’s Cross Country:
No. 1 Taylor Trojans (14 first-place votes):
Location: Upland, IN
Conference: Crossroads League
Last season: No. 5
Just before their conference championship, the Taylor Trojans have returned to the No. 1 spot in the country for the first time this season.
Through four events, Taylor has taken first in three: the IWU Twilight Invitational, the Ray Bullock Invitational and the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge.
Their only non-first place event was the Mizzou Gans Creek Classic, where they took second place behind NCAA Division II school Fort Hays State.
This season, the Trojans broke both their 5k and 6k school team records and are led by freshman Jaynie Halterman, who has taken first place overall in every event she has participated in and set the 6k program record at the Mizzou Gans Creek Classic with a time of 20:56.7.
Junior Noel VanderWall, senior Ahna Neideck and senior Audrey Brinkruff will also be hungry to earn their second national championship in their collegiate careers and combined are responsible for six of the top ten individual times this season.
No. 2 Milligan Buffaloes (3)
Location: Elizabethton, TN
Conference: Appalachian Athletic Conference
Last season: No. 4
The 2021 National Champions and the 2022 runners-up are back in contention with a shot at taking the 2024 crown.
Ranked No. 1 for the majority of the season, the Buffs have competed in four events before their conference championship.
They took first at both the Brevard XC Classic in mid-September and the Appalachian Challenge during the final week of October.
Their two other events, the App State Firetower Project and the ECU Pirate Invitational, pit Milligan against NCAA opponents like Wake Forest, Marshall and William & Mary. The Buffs still took third and fourth place overall in the two competitions.
Junior Ellen-Mary Kearney paces the team, finishing as the first Milligan runner in three out of four events and nearly breaking her 5k personal best with a second-place 17:22.3 finish at the Appalachian Challenge.
Milligan will look to take home first place with freshman Gracie Franklin, who has never tasted NAIA glory, running beside Kearny and junior Ashlyn Haas, who both still remember what claiming first place feels like.
No. 3 Saint Mary Spires (3)
Location: Leavenworth, KN
Conference: Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference
Last season: No. 3
After reaching the podium last season, the Spires have been nothing but dominant during the 2024 season, winning four of their five competitions handily.
At the Woody Dirkson Invite and the Oklahoma State Jamboree in September, Saint Mary raced against NCAA opponents, taking first at Dirkson and fourth overall at Oklahoma State.
Senior sisters Reagan and Riley Hiebert are the runners to watch. Reagan has been the top finisher for Saint Mary in three out of five competitions this season, the two she did not take first in, Riley led the Spires instead.
Looking to win their fifth conference championship in a row, the Spires are expected to take the KCAC crown home again before racing for first in the NAIA Championships.
No. 4 The Master’s Mustangs
Location: Santa Clara, CA
Conference: Golden State Athletic Conference
Last season: No. 2
The runner-up from last season’s NAIA National Championship are back with a vengeance, running a packed schedule with six events through the year.
The Mustangs finished in first place at the Biola Invitational and the Larry Young Invitational with senior Hannah Fredericks taking first at both of the Mustangs’ wins and junior Emma Nelson and fifth-year senior Ellen Palmgren taking one top-five finish each.
Despite not winning the majority of their events, The Master’s runners have spent the year racing against NCAA and NJCAA talent like San Diego State, California State Fullerton and other West Coast universities and will be more than prepared for the NAIA Championship.
No. 5 Montreat Cavaliers
Location: Montreat NC
Conference: Appalachian Athletic Conference
Last season: No. 10
Sometimes it doesn’t take much for a team to prove they’re one of the best. Despite being in the same conference as No. 2 Milligan, the Cavaliers are well within striking distance of the conference leaders.
Reaching a program record of the No. 5 rank in the nation, Montreat has ascended without winning any of the three events they participated in.
Fifth-year senior Ali Ray is in the most dominant season of her career, breaking her 5k record by 33 seconds at the Covered Bridge Open, but it is freshman Heather Murphy who has appeared as a star for the Cavs.
She ran as an independent runner until the NAIA Appalachian Challenge where she took first by four seconds over Milligan standout Ellen-Mary Kearney.
Montreat took second behind Milligan at the Appalachian Challenge, but only by 13 points. They have a chance to not only upset their conference rival but continue to rise up the ranks of the NAIA before the finals.
Other contenders: No. 6 College of Idaho Yotes
Men’s Cross Country:
No. 1 College of Idaho Yotes (13 first-place votes)
Location: Caldwell, ID
Conference: Cascade Collegiate Conference
Last season: No. 6
Led by a trio of seniors, Hayden Bostrom, Elias Everist and fifth-year Daniel Butler, The College of Idaho is stacked with older, experienced talent.
At least two of Bostrom, Everist and Butler have been a top-three finisher for the Yotes this season and Butler has claimed three team lead wins for himself this season.
Buter has also claimed two NAIA Runners of the Week for his first-place overall finishes at both the CCC Preview and Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational.
At the CCC Preview in September, the Yotes took on their conference competition and came out with a narrow win over West Coast Conference opponent Portland.
After finishing last season outside of the podium, the Yotes are by far the favorite coming out of the CCC and are expected to carry their momentum into the final weeks of the year.
No. 2 Milligan Buffaloes (5)
Location: Elizabethton, TN
Conference: Appalachian Athletic Conference
Last season: No. 1
The reigning champions of the NAIA have returned, hunting for their third red banner in four years, bringing with them more than enough firepower and experience to take home another National Championship.
Senior Bryn Woodall, the top finisher for Milligan at last year’s National Championship, once again leads the Buffs. He has been their top finisher in all four events of the year and claimed one NAIA Runner of the Week award.
Winning both the Brevard XC Classic and the Appalachian Challenge handily, the Buffaloes set their sights on racing against NCAA competition, placing third at the App State Firetower Project and seventh out of 21 teams at the ECU Pirate Invitational in Greenville, N.C.
Despite losing two of their top three finishers from last season, Milligan’s depth remains their strength, with senior Zimri Kuhn notching multiple top-three Buffs finishes and freshmen Winston Telford, Douglas Cornfield and Blake Hipikiss commonly filling out the final top runners for the Buffaloes.
No. 3 The Master’s Mustangs (1)
Location: Santa Clara, CA
Conference: Golden State Athletic Conference
Last season: No. 4
After falling from their bronze spot on the podium in 2023, the Mustangs from Santa Clara have galloped into 2024 with a chip on their shoulder.
Senior Connor Ybarra and junior Jack Anderson have routinely traded finishing first and second for The Master’s finishing third and fourth at The Master’s XC College Invite, tenth and third at the Highlander Invitational and first and second at the Biola Invitational.
After their first event of the year, The Master’s have never taken lower than third, taking third at the Highlander Invitational, second at the Biola Invitational and Riverside Invitational and winning both their own College Invite and the Larry Young Invitational.
The Mustangs are expected to win the GSAC Cross Country Championships handily, but it will be in Columbus, MO where they will need to get over the hump and claim their first red banner.
No. 4 Oklahoma City Stars
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Conference: Sooner Athletic Conference
Last season: No. 11
Never to be discounted, no college in the last 20 years has been as successful at the National level. With five team and five individual titles over the last decade, the Stars are an NAIA cross country dynasty.
In three main events of the year, they faced stiff competition, winning the SNU Invitational in early September and taking second at the Mizzou Gans Creek Invitational ahead of fellow NAIA competition like Spring Arbor and Indiana Wesleyan.
In their final event before their conference race, the Stars finished in 15th place but faced NCAA Division I universities like Boise State, Texas Tech and Gonzaga.
Junior Evert Silva earned himself an NAIA Runner of the Week award after the Gans Creek Invitational taking second place overall, just five seconds behind the leading runner, and will be the lead runner for the Stars looking to continue the strong tradition of Oklahoma City domination.
Other contenders: No. 5 Saint Mary Spires, No. 10 Taylor Trojans
