Championship Info
FARMINGTON, Utah (Nov. 19, 2024) – The Big Sky Conference will be represented by two teams and two induvial as the 2024 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Division I Cross Country Championships on ESPNU.
The meet will be broadcast live and uninterrupted on Saturday, November 23 on ESPNU. The women’s championship 6K will begin at 8:20 a.m. MT and the men’s championship 10K will start at 9:10 a.m. The ESPNU broadcast will begin at 7:30 a.m. MT
No. 3 Northern Arizona Women
The No. 3-ranked Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona will enter the championship 6K in Madison as one of the favorites, looking to become the first women’s team in Big Sky Conference history to claim a Division I NCAA National Championship.
In their first three meets of the season, the Lumberjacks claimed first place. That run included team titles at the Georgy Kyte Classic, the Dave Murray Invitational and the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational. They finished third at Wisconsin Pre-Nationals before claiming a sixth-consecutive Big Sky title. This year in Pocatello, they did so with a perfect score of 15 points.
NAU was an automatic qualifier to Wisconsin after claiming a second-place finish at NCAA Mountain Regionals in Reno, Nevada. Elise Stearns led the Lumberjacks in the race, finishing in fourth. For Stearns, that was just her second race since the 2024 Big Sky Indoor Track & Field Championships.
The Lumberjacks finished as national runner-up last season and ranked behind only BYU and Oregon going into this meet. Their second place finish a year ago was the best in Big Sky Conference history.
Northern Colorado’s Regina Mpigachai
With a third place finish at Mountain Regionals, Northern Colorado’s Regina Mpigachai clinched a spot in the 2024 National Championships as an individual.
Mpigachai had a very strong regular season, which included a trio of individual victories. She started her campaign with a win at the UIW Invitational, before also claiming the title at the Greeno/Dirksen Invitational and the Golden Eagle Invitational.
Despite finishing 61
st at the Big Sky Championships, Mpigachai bounced back strong in Reno to secure a spot in Madison.
The Geita, Tanzania native secured the first individual qualifier for the NCAA Championships in the program's NCAA Division I era, which began in 2006.
Mpigachai helped the Bears to the highest-ever finish at the NCAA Regionals, placing 14th in the 19-team field.
No. 6 Northern Arizona Men
On the hunt for their seventh National Championship, the Northern Arizona men’s squad enters the National Championship as the No. 6 team in the NCAA.
The Lumberjacks started the season with back-to-back team victories at the George Kyte Classic and the Dave Murray Invitational, before securing a runner-up finish at Notre Dame.
Following a fifth place finish at Pre-Nationals, the Lumberjacks secured their fourth-consecutive Big Sky title in Pocatello. In Reno, they finished third at NCAA Mountain Regionals and received an at-large bid to the field in Madison.
Northern Arizona has claimed six the previous eight available National Championships, and was the runner-up the two years they didn’t claim the top prize. The Lumberjacks claimed three from 2016-18, and then three more from 2020-22. Oklahoma State (currently No. 2) won the title in 2023, and BYU (currently No. 1) won it in 2019.
Weber State’s Peter Visser
For the second-consecutive season, Weber State’s Peter Visser will represent the Wildcats at the NCAA National Championships following back-to-back impressive performances to start championship season.
The senior from Afton, Wyoming finished fourth at the Big Sky Championships and 15
th at NCAA Mountain Regionals to start bolster his national reputation.
He started his season with back-to-back victories at the Utah State Alumni Challenge and Big Sky Preview Meet.
Visser is only the fourth Wildcat in team history to qualify twice to the National Championships.
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