Earlier today, the NCAA announced the final fields for the NCAA D2 XC Championships which will be held on December 2nd in Seattle, Washington. Noticeably absent from the at-large national qualifying list were the Adams State men, a historical distance running powerhouse that has annihilated their Division Two competition for decades.
The Adams State men had finished 7th place at the South Central Regional XC Championships last weekend, a surprising result for a team that was expected to place among the top-three.
According to our D2 editor, John Cusick, who was on site for the South Central regional meet this past weekend, the clear expectation from coaches and athletes within the region was that the Adams State men would earn an at-large bid to the national meet this year.
Instead, the NCAA opted to advance five teams out of the South Central region to the national meet, effectively ending the seasons for 6th place CSU-Pueblo and 7th place Adams State.
The Adams State men had previously qualified for every D2 cross country national meet since 1996, giving them a 25-year national qualifying streak. They also boast 13 men's cross country national team titles at the D2 level.
The Grizzly men are currently listed at TSR #2 in our latest team rankings.