Stanford women defend title, Colorado takes men's NCAA crown
The Colorado men and Stanford women easily won team titles Monday at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, held for the third consecutive year at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind. With temperatures at 50 degrees, runners faced a course that had soaked up 5 inches of rain over the weekend.

Led by Brent Vaughn in eighth place, Colorado won the men's title with 94 points. Defending champion Wisconsin was well back in second with 142 points, and Iona was third with 172.

Josh Rohatinsky of Brigham Young won the men's individual race in 30:44.9, well ahead of Neftalem Araia of Stanford, second in 30:52.6. Southern Utah's Jess Baumgartner (30:53.2), Lopez Lomong of Northern Arizona (30:59.8) and Martin Fagan of Providence (30:01.0) rounded out the top 5.

The Stanford women kept Colorado from sweeping the team competition, successfully defending their 2005 team title. Led by Arianna Lambie's overall third-place finish in team scoring, Stanford scored 195 points to finish ahead of Colorado with 223. Michigan was third with 233.

Underclassmen ruled the individual race as sophomores took the top two spots. Sally Kipyego of Texas Tech dominated the field in 20:11.1, with fellow soph Jenny Barringer of Colorado second in 20:37.9. Lindsay Donaldson, a junior at Yale, was third in 20:42.7, with Lambie of Stanford fourth (20:43.8) and Julia Lucas of North Carolina State fifth in 20:47.1.

For more information on the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, visit www.ncaachampionships.com

Abilene Christian men, Adams State women win NCAA II titles
Twenty-four teams and 187 runners competed Saturday at the 2006 NCAA Division II Men's Cross Country National Championship in Pensacola, Fla., where Abilene Christian posted three top-ten finishers en route to the programs first-ever national championship. Junior Nicodemus Naimadu of Abilene Christian won his third individual national title in three tries.

Abilene Christian adds their first men's cross country national championship to their 28 indoor and outdoor track and field national titles.

Abilene Christian finished with a winning total of 65 points in the 10 km race edging #1 ranked Adams State with 82 points. Fifth-ranked Western State's 141 points was good enough for a third place finish, and #3 ranked Chico State was fourth with 171 points. Fourth-ranked Grand Valley State rounded out the top five with 217 points.

In women's action, Adams State College won a fourth straight NCAA Division II National cross country title and their 12th overall. The Grizzlies put three runners in the top 20 and had four of the top 20 team scorers to edge arch-rival Western State College by seven points, 94-101.

The victory was the narrowest of the dozen that Coach Damon Martin's squad has won in the 15 years since both schools made the jump to the NCAA ranks in 1992. The winning team score of 94 was also the highest in the history of the meet, which dates to 1981.

In the team race, Grand Valley State, last year's runner-up to the Grizzlies, came in third with 165 points while Cal State-Los Angeles, competing in the championships for the first time since 1994, came in fourth with 169.

Western State sophomore Esther Komen, already the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and North Central Regional Champion, won the individual title, the Mountaineers' first since 2001, with a time of 20:09.4.

Calvin men, Middlebury women win NCAA Division III XC titles
Calvin College placed five runners in the top 13 to capture the 2006 NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championships Saturday at Voice of America Park in West Chester, Ohio, while Middlebury College took the women's title. The event was hosted by Wilmington College.

Calivin, the 2005 NCAA runners-up, finished with 37 points to easily defeat runner-up New York University, which finished with 92 points. Allegheny (212), Cortland State (213) and St. John's, Minn. (234) rounded out the top five finishing teams.

Macharia Yuot of Widener, the 2003 and 2005 individual runner-up, captured his first NCAA cross country championship in his final race. Also finishing in the top five were Tim Finnegan of Calvin, Julian Boggs of Colorado College, Willy Kaul of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Jed Christensen of Calvin.

In women's action, Middlebury College defeated Amherst by the slimmest of margins to win the NCAA Women's Division III Cross Country Championships. In a battle of New England powerhouses, Middlebury, which won NCAA titles in 2000, 2001 and 2003, totaled 144 points to Amherst's 145. Third-place Calvin was close behind with 149 points. Rounding out the top five were Washington University (186) and Tufts (214).

Sarah Zerzan of Willamette won the individual title, finishing 20 seconds ahead of Dickinson's Caitlin Bradley. Also in the top five were Sarah Spencer of Grinnell, Toni Wiszowaty of Plattsburgh State and Beth Herndon of Washington.

VIC wins third consecutive NAIA men's cross country title
Virginia Intermont College, ranked #2 nationally for most of the season, won the NAIA National Cross Country Championships for the third year in a row over the weekend in Louisville, Ky. The Cobras handily beat runner-up Concordia Irvine 67 to 136 behind the individual title of David Cheromei.

After the Cobras, the team battle was tight as Azusa Pacific (Calif.) notched its top finish in third with 244 points, while Oklahoma Baptist repeated its fourth-place with 253 and Aquinas (Mich.), was fifth with 257 points.

On the women's side, Intermont's Renata Volf took home the Lady Cobra's first All-American honors with her 28th-place finish in 18:39 for the 5 km course. Genevieve Binsfeld, a pupil of Simmons while at Minot State, took the overall individual title, as Simon Fraser (BC) won its 4th consecutive title with coach Brit Townsend being named Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive time.