2024 NAIA Men’s Cross Country National Championship Qualifiers
The final field for the 69th annual NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championship has been released as 36 teams and 80 individuals have qualified. UC Merced had nine of the top 14 finishers at the California Pacific Conference Championship, earning the Bobcats the conference's automatic bid to the national meet. This year marks the first time UCM has advanced as a team, and the Bobcats will be led by Sharvin Manjrekar, who will be running his third consecutive national event.
Also qualifying for the event are Soka's Andre Souza, Jordan Bravo, and Naoki Kasai, and Simpson's Cade Salsedo. Bravo qualifies for the third straight season while Souza, the 2024 Cal Pac medalist, will be making his second straight appearance at the national event.
The field will prepare to race on Friday, Nov.22, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. PT at the Columbia, Mo., Gans Creek Cross Country Course.
Qualifier Notes
- 2024's championship will be the first to take place in Columbia, Mo.
- This year's field comprises 22 automatic qualifiers and 14 at-large berths. A team may qualify with an automatic berth by winning its conference championship meet or as the runner-up in the championship meet provided the conference has 12 or more schools and the runner-up is rated in the top 30 of the final NAIA Men's Cross Country rating, which is found HERE
- The 14 at-large berths were determined by the final NAIA Men's Cross Country rating and reviewed by the NAIA Men's Cross Country Oversight Committee.
- In addition to the team qualifiers, 80 individuals qualified for the championship based on their scoring finish at their respective conference meet.
- The Crossroads League boasts the highest number of team qualifiers in the 2024 field with five teams: Grace (Ind.), Indiana Wesleyan, Marian (Ind.), Taylor (Ind.) and Spring Arbor (Mich.).
- The 2024 NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championship will be streamed live on the NAIA Channel on the Urban Edge Network for free and can be found HERE.
TEAM QUALIFIERS
|
INSTITUTION |
CONFERENCE |
QUALIFYING METHOD |
|
Aquinas (Mich.) |
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Bellevue (Neb.) |
North Star Athletic Association |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
Mid-South Conference |
At-Large |
|
Carroll (Mont.) |
Frontier Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
College of Idaho |
Cascade Collegiate Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Columbia (Mo.) |
American Midwest Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
Mid-South Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Doane (Neb.) |
Great Plains Athletic Conference |
At-Large |
|
Dordt (Iowa) |
Great Plains Athletic Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Eastern Oregon |
Cascade Collegiate Conference |
At-Large |
|
Embry-Ridle (Ariz.) |
Great Southwest Athletic Conference |
At-Large |
|
Grace (Ind.) |
Crossroads League |
At-Large |
|
Haskell (Kan.) |
Continental Athletic Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Indiana Wesleyan |
Crossroads League |
At-Large |
|
IU East (Ind.) |
River States Conference |
At-Large |
|
Kansas Wesleyan |
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference |
Conference Tournament Runner-Up |
|
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
Cascade Collegiate Conference |
At-Large |
|
Marian (Ind.) |
Crossroads League |
At-Large |
|
Milligan (Tenn.) |
Appalachian Athletic Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Mobile (Ala.) |
Southern States Athletic Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Montreat (N.C.) |
Appalachian Athletic Conference |
At-Large |
|
Mount Mercy (Iowa) |
Heart of America Athletic Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Oklahoma City |
Sooner Athletic Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference |
At-Large |
|
Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) |
Red River Athletic Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Rio Grande (Ohio) |
River States Conference |
At-Large |
|
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
Frontier Conference |
At-Large |
|
Saint Francis (Ill.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Saint Mary (Kan.) |
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
SCAD Savannah (Ga.) |
The Sun Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Shawnee State (Ohio) |
River States Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Spring Arbor (Mich.) |
Crossroads League |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Taylor (Ind.) |
Crossroads League |
At-Large |
|
The Master's (Calif.) |
Great Southwest Athletic Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
Tougaloo (Miss.) |
HBCU Athletic Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |
|
UC Merced |
California Pacific Conference |
Conference Tournament Champion |