KENOSHA, WISC – The NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championship takes place on Saturday, November 22, at the Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Five Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Men’s Cross Country teams and one individual will take the starting line to compete among the nation’s best. 

This season has been filled with historic performances by teams and individuals, action-packed races, and upsets against race favorites. Now five RMAC teams and an individual will line up to compete for the ultimate prize on the national stage. 

The men’s race will follow the women’s at 10:15 a.m. Mountain. A live web stream of the championships will occur on www.NCAA.com from 9:00 a.m. Mountain until the conclusion of the awards ceremony.
 
Adams State University (No. 2)
The Grizzlies are one win away from sweeping championship events, with wins at the RMAC and South Central Regional Championships. Adams State is led by Kidus Begashaw and Julian Campos, who recently came in second and third at the South Central Regional Championship, with the tenth and 15^th best times nationally of 29:53.5, and 30:06.4, respectively. Adams State’s team cohesion is one of their key strengths that allows them to score as well as they do. Early in the South Central Regional race, all seven Grizzly runners clocked nearly the exact 3k split, running in a pack until the last half of the race. It can be expected that the Grizzlies’ team efforts will continue this weekend as they make a push for their first national championship since going back-to-back in 2016 and 2017. 
 
Colorado School of Mines (No. 3)
The Orediggers look to win back-to-back national championships for their fifth-ever national championship. Colorado School of Mines spent the majority of the season as the No. 1 team in the country and will look to regain that title this coming Saturday. Led by four returning All-Americans, Colorado School of Mines brings the necessary depth to Division II’s biggest stage. Paul Knight is the Orediggers’ leading runner and is coming off a strong 8k performance at the RMAC Cross Country Championship, but has yet to compete at the 10k distance this season. Jeremiah Vaille has also had strong performances for the Orediggers this season; however, it will take a strong overall team performance to repeat as national champions. 
 
Colorado Christian University (No. 6)
Colorado Christian will be competing in its sixth-straight NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championship. This season, the Cougars have put together impressive team wins at the UCCS Rust Buster and the prestigious Lewis Crossover Invitational. Their leading runner is returning All-American and week one USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week Matthew Storer, who is coming off a top 10 finish at the South Central Regional Championship. Storer’s efforts along with top 25 finishes from Noah Lambers and Alex Vance gave Colorado Christian the push they needed to close the race in fourth. As they head to Kenosha, Wisconsin to compete among the nation’s best, the Cougars will aim to improve on their best finish of third in 2022, while challenging the nation’s top teams for the national title. 
 
Western Colorado University (No. 8) 
The Mountaineers will travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin after their strong third place team finishes at the RMAC and South Central Regional Championships. Oliver Diaz and Jan Thewes finished in seventh and eighth with times of 30:23.9 and 30:26.6, respectively, at the South Central Regional Championship and will be at the helm of the squad entering the final race of the year. The last time the Mountaineers won a National Championship was in 2011 after they had a historic performance scoring the fourth lowest number of points in the history of the championship (27) and placed all five scoring runners in the top 15. Western Colorado will look to replicate this same success and etch themselves into history this Saturday. 
 
University of Colorado Colorado Springs (No. 15)
The Mountain Lions will make their seventh straight National Championship appearance this weekend with hopes of capturing their first national championship. Their best finish came in 2021 when they finished the race in fifth. UCCS is not to be counted out, as deep and competitive fields are not a strange thing to them. The Mountain Lions finished sixth at the South Central Regional Championship after a collective team effort highlighted by Joseph Impellitteri’s 21^st place finish with a time of 31:07.2, and Logan Cole’s 25^th place finish with a time of 31:14.6. UCCS has built on each performance throughout the season, and will look to do the same one final time after the South Central Regional Championship in pursuit of winning their first national championship. 
 
Weldon Chebon, New Mexico Highlands University 
Representing the Cowboys, Weldon Chebon individually qualified for the NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championship after his individual title win at the South Central Regional Championship. He was named the USTFCCCA South Central Region Athlete of the Year after his outstanding performances this season. Chebon currently holds the seventh best 10k time in Division II heading into the national championship, with a time of 29:44.9. This is the second consecutive year that Chebon has qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championship and looks to finish his season on the highest possible note: potentially winning the individual national title. 
 
The RMAC leads all Division II conferences with the most qualifying teams, however the field contains many elite runners and several renowned cross country programs. The 2023 national champions, Wingate University, enter the race as the No. 1 team in the country, and are coming off a near-perfect finish at the Southeast Regional Championship, finishing with 16 points. Coming out of the Midwest region, Grand Valley State University (No. 4) is coming off its 23^rd consecutive team title at its regional championship, but another Midwest region member gave them a run for their money. Saginaw Valley State University (No. 7) challenged the Lakers in the Midwest Regional Championship but finished eight points behind earning second place. No. 5 Lee University should not be overlooked either; the Flames dominated a deep field at the South Region Championship, scoring 24 points while placing all five of their scoring runners in the top 10. 

Lone Star Conference and RMAC programs went head-to-head in Pueblo at the South Central Regional Championship and will meet again in Kenosha for the NCAA Division II National Championship. West Texas A&M University, currently ranked No. 10 nationally, placed fifth at the regional meet behind four RMAC teams. The Buffs are expected to make a strong push as they look to climb the national standings and challenge the RMAC contenders and other top-ranked squads in the field. 

In their final and most competitive race of the season, RMAC teams face a significant challenge on Saturday, but they are well positioned to rise to the moment and demonstrate why the conference remains the national standard in Division II Cross Country.
 
About the RMAC
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, headquartered in Colorado Springs, is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 institutions located in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah. The RMAC currently competes in 22 NCAA Division II sports and has earned 67 national championships and 53 national runners-up since 1992. Founded in 1909, the RMAC is the most historic athletic conference in the western United States and Division II.