CORVALLIS, Ore. – The 2022 Cascade Collegiate Conference Men’s Cross Country Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, hits the dirt Friday at Clover Road Fields in Talent, Ore.
Southern Oregon University hosts the 8K, which is set to begin at 10 a.m. Pacific, with 10 teams competing for not only the CCC Championship, but also the conference’s automatic qualifier to the NAIA Cross Country Championship on Nov. 18 in Tallahassee, Fla. At-large bids will be announced on Nov. 10 by the NAIA office.
The top-15 runners will earn All-Cascade Collegiate Conference honors, with the possibility of qualifying for the NAIA Championship Meet as an at-large individual if their team doesn’t qualify.
Live results can be found
here with more information about the meet found on the
CCC Cross Country Championship Page.
The race is bound for some excitement as
half the teams competing enter the race ranked in the latest NAIA Men’s Cross Country Poll, while another is receiving votes.
Eastern Oregon University enters the championship sitting at No. 5 on the rankings and a ton of momentum. The Mounties have yet to finish outside of the top-two at a meet, with both of those runner-up finishes coming against NCAA Division I squads. In the first meet of the season, EOU put six runners in the top 10 to win the CCC Preview Meet.
No. 11-ranked Southern Oregon University took second on its home course at the CCC Preview and comes off a second-place finish at the NAIA Mid-States Classic, losing out to No. 9-ranked Oklahoma City by just two points.
No. 14-ranked College of Idaho was
picked to repeat as champion on the preseason poll after winning its third title in four years last year. The Coyotes come off a sixth-place finish at the Lewis & Clark Invitational against a deep field. No. 22-ranked Oregon Tech also raced at the Lewis & Clark Invitational, taking 11
th as a team, while Northwest University, which is earning votes on the latest poll, was right behind the Owls in 12
th.
No. 15-ranked Lewis-Clark State College hasn’t raced much against conference opponents but comes off a second-place finish at the NCAA Division II Pre-Nationals Meet with three runners in the top 15.
Also competing for the championship are Bushnell University, Corban University, Multnomah University, and Walla Walla University.