Cross country finishes are difficult to calculate. Comparing the times to other years and different courses makes the process of titling the fastest times in NCAA DI Cross Country history practically impossible. With the help of our record books (Men's | Women's), 25 men's and women's cross country times have been documented as the fastest finishes in NCAA DI cross country championships history.
We've pinpointed the dates and locations that radically changed the record books for both men's and women's cross country.
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Men's cross country fastest finishes
Nov. 22, 1976. That was the date cross country was turned on its head. Three days before Thanksgiving, nine of the top-25 fastest championship finish times on record occurred at the 1976 cross country national championship, hosted by North Texas State. The 38th annual men's NCAA DI Cross Country Championships included an average 45-degree temperature and clear visibility — great weather for a 10k race. Topographically, the terrain in Denton, Texas, is flat.
Kenyan-born Henry Rono of Washington State led the historic 10k with the fastest time ever recorded in NCAA DI men's cross country national championship history — a finishing time of 28 minutes, 6.6 seconds. About 10 seconds behind him (28:16.8), his WSU teammate Samson Kimombwa crossed the finish line and became the sole owner of the second fastest championship finish ever recorded. And 10 seconds after Kimombwa (28:26.5), Illinois' Craig Virgin rounded out the podium with his third-place finish in what was the third-fastest championship time recorded, at the time.
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: Men's complete history since 1938|Women's complete history since 1981
Rono bettered Virgin's time three years later with a 28:19.6 finish at the 1979 national championships — his third individual title (1976, 1977, 1979). He became only the third person in history to win three titles, making Rono one of the greatest distance runners in NCAA history.
The 2021 national championship on Nov. 20, 2021, saw BYU's Conner Mantz record the seventh-fastest mark with a winning time of 28:33.1, besting the field by more than five seconds and passing Rono's 1977 victory (28:33.5). Five finishes from the 83rd annual championship, held at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida, landed among the top 25.
Top-25 fastest finishes in men's cross country championships history:
| All-Time | Year | Place | Host | Time | Name | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1976 | 1 | North Texas | 28:06.6 | Henry Rono | Washington St. |
| 2 | 1976 | 2 | North Texas | 28:16.8 | Samson Kimombwa | Washington St. |
| 3 | 1979 | 1 | Lehigh | 28:19.6 | Henry Rono | Washington St. |
| 4 | 1976 | 3 | North Texas | 28:26.5 | Craig Virgin | Illinois |
| 5 | 1976 | 4 | North Texas | 28:30.7 | Herb Lindsay | Michigan St. |
| 6 | 2012 | 1 | Louisville | 28:31.3 | Kennedy Kithuka | Texas Tech |
| 7 | 2021 | 1 | Florida St. | 28:33.1 | Conner Mantz | BYU |
| 8 | 1977 | 1 | Washington St. | 28:33.5 | Henry Rono | Washington St. |
| 9 | 1976 | 5 | North Texas | 28:34.8 | John Treacy | Providence |
| 10 | 1979 | 2 | Lehigh | 28:37.4 | Alberto Salazar | Oregon |
| 11 | 2023 | 1 | Virginia | 28:37.7 | Graham Blanks | Harvard |
| 12 | 2012 | 2 | Louisville | 28:38.6 | Stephen Sambu | Arizona |
| 13 | 2021 | 2 | Florida St. | 28:38.7 | Wesley Kiptoo | Iowa St. |
| 14 | 1976 | 6 | North Texas | 28:39.0 | Wilson Waigwa | UTEP |
| 15 | 2023 | 2 | Virginia | 28:40.7 | Habtom Samuel | New Mexico |
| 16 | 2021 | 3 | Florida St. | 28:40.9 | Athanas Kioko | Campbell |
| 17 | 1976 | 7 | North Texas | 28:43.1 | Niall O'Shaughnessy | Arkansas |
| 18 | 2022 | 1 | Oklahoma State | 28:43.6 | Charles Hicks | Stanford |
| 19 | 2011 | 1 | Indiana St. | 28:44.1 | Lawi Lalang | Arizona |
| 20 | 2022 | 1 | Oklahoma State | 28:44.5 | Nico Young | Northern Arizona |
| 21 | 1981 | 1 | Wichita St. | 28:45.6 | Mathews Motshwarateu | UTEP |
| 22 | 2015 | 1 | Louisville | 28:45.8 | Edward Cheserek | Oregon |
| 23 | 1976 | 8 | North Texas | 28:46.4 | Sammy Maritim | Texas-El Paso |
| 24 | 2001 | 1 | Furman | 28:47.0 | Boaz Cheboiywo | Eastern Michigan |
| 25 | 2021 | 4 | Florida St. | 28:47.2 | Charles Hicks | Stanford |
Women's cross country fastest finishes
The fastest NCAA DI Women's Cross Country Championship race in history ran on Nov. 18, 2023. The race saw the three fastest times in NCAA championship history, led by Florida's Parker Valby and her record-setting 18:55.2 finish — the only finish to break the 19-minute mark at championships. 2023 added seven of the top 10 times in women's DI championship history, and 10 of the top 25 times.
The 37th annual NCAA DI Women's Cross Country Championships on Nov. 18, 2017, mirrored the men's 1976 outlier. The 6k race hosted by Louisville at the E. P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park set the scene for seven of the fastest championship finishes in NCAA DI women's cross country history.
Clouds enabled a 20-mph wind and 66-degree temperature for the early morning race. The mostly level Louisville region made for ideal running conditions.
New Mexico's Ednah Kurgat crossed the finish line at 19:19.5, about eight seconds ahead of Washington's Amy-Eloise Neale (19:27.0). The pair took home first and second place that day and became the top-two fastest finishes in women's cross country championship history.
At that time in 2017, Louisville became the site of 13 of the fastest finishes in women's cross country championship history — including seven of the 10 fastest finishes ever recorded — though the school has only hosted the event three times in program history (2012, 2015, 2017).
On Nov. 20, 2021, Whittni Orton of BYU recorded the then-second-fastest time, finishing in 19:25.4 to win the 41st annual women's national championship, held at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida. The 2021 championship closely resembled 2017, as six times vaulted into the top 25.
Top-25 fastest finishes in women's cross country championships history:
| All-time | Year | Place | Host | Time | Name | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2023 | 1 | Virginia | 18:55.2 | Parker Valby | Florida |
| 2 | 2023 | 2 | Virginia | 19:05.7 | Doris Lemngole | Alabama |
| 3 | 2023 | 3 | Virginia | 19:10.0 | Olivia Markezich | Notre Dame |
| 4 | 2017 | 1 | Louisville | 19:19.5 | Ednah Kurgat | New Mexico |
| 5 | 2023 | 4 | Virginia | 19:22.1 | Hilda Olemomoi | Alabama |
| 6 | 2023 | 5 | Virginia | 19:23.0 | Katelyn Tuohy | NC State |
| 7 | 2021 | 1 | Florida St. | 19:25.4 | Whittni Orton | BYU |
| 8 | 2023 | 6 | Virginia | 19:26.9 | Flomena Asekol | Florida |
| 9 | 2017 | 2 | Louisville | 19:27.0 | Amy-Eloise Neale | Washington |
| 10 | 2023 | 7 | Virginia | 19:27.5 | Billah Jepkirui | Oklahoma State |
| 11 | 2022 | 1 | Oklahoma State | 19:27.7 | Katelyn Tuohy | NC State |
| 12 | 2012 | 1 | Louisville | 19:27.9 | Betsy Saina | Iowa St. |
| 13 | 2008 | 1 | Indiana St. | 19:28.1 | Sally Kipyego | Texas Tech |
| 14 | 2023 | 8 | Virginia | 19:28.4 | Chloe Scrimgeour | Georgetown |
| T-15 | 2017 | 3 | Louisville | 19:28.6 | Charlotte Taylor | San Francisco |
| T-15 | 2015 | 1 | Louisville | 19:28.6 | Molly Seidel | Notre Dame |
| T-17 | 2012 | 2 | Louisville | 19:28.6 | Abbey D'Agostina | Dartmouth |
| T-17 | 2012 | 2 | Louisville | 19:28.6 | Jordan Hasay | Oregon |
| 19 | 2021 | 2 | Florida St. | 19:29.3 | Mercy Chelangat | Alabama |
| 20 | 2021 | 3 | Florida St. | 19:29.5 | Ceili McCabe | West Virginia |
| 21 | 2021 | 4 | Florida St. | 19:29.8 | Cailie Logue | Iowa St. |
| 22 | 2023 | 9 | Virginia | 19:29.9 | Amina Maatoug | Duke |
| 23 | 2003 | 1 | UNI | 19:30.4 | Shalane Flanagan | North Carolina |
| 24 | 2023 | 10 | Virginia | 19:30.8 | Maia Ramsden | Harvard |
| T-25 | 2007 | 1 | Indiana St. | 19:30.9 | Sally Kipyego | Texas Tech |
| T-25 | 2022 | 2 | Oklahoma State | 19:30.9 | Parker Valby | Florida |
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