November 9, 2022 | by Taylor Pill

JOPLIN, Mo. -- We're just two days away from the 2022 NCCAA DII National Cross Country Championships, and Coach John Warnke, Jeremy Fopma, and both of the Sabercats cross country teams are poised to make some noise at the NCCAA DII National Finale.

Jeremy Fopma is slated to compete toe-to-toe with Bob Jones University's Doug Stone, as it could be a two-man dogfight down the stretch to decide the Division II individual title.

Fopma goes in as the defending champ but will have to work harder than ever to retain the crown. His unmatched performance at last year's National Championships plunged him deeper into the NCCAA record books, as he captured an unprecedented third consecutive national individual title.

OVERVIEW

• Date: Friday, 11/11 at 9:45 a.m. (Women's 5K)/11:30 a.m. (Men's 8K)
• Venue: Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course
• Location: Joplin, Mo.
• Fields: (Below)
• Info: (Championship Central)
• Live Updates: (Live Stats) (Twitter)

Men's Preview

Bob Jones University is favored to win its seventh consecutive national title, and the Sabercats will be pushing to capture the runner-up position while holding off Ozark Christian College. Crown College, the current second-fastest team in the NCCAA DII, is slated to field a team of only four individual runners, as their NCAA Regional Meet is scheduled for the next day.

(click here for Men's Individual and team times this season)

Women's Preview

Bob Jones is the favorite on the Women's side as well, as they lead their next-closest competitor, North Central University, by more than two minutes per runner. The Bruins will look to capture the team title for the third straight year, as they were the first team to take the title from Moody Bible, who had won every women's title from 2013-2019.

(click here for Women's Individual and team times this season)

THE FIELD (MEN)

Here's a brief overview of the field that is expected to lace it up on a complete-team (at least five runners) level:

(Only teams that have met the team qualifying time are eligible for the rankings)

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THE FIELD (WOMEN)

Below is the field of complete teams for the women. Schools may enter individually qualified runners but will not be considered for team finishes:

(Only teams that have met the team qualifying time are eligible for the rankings)

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THE SOUND BITE

"The goals for our men's team are to finish in the top two as a team, for Jeremy to take the title, and to have [multiple runners] finish in the top 30," said Head Coach John Warnke. "For the women, our goals are to finish in the top four as a team, and we'll need Amber to finish in the top 10 - she is actually looking to finish inside the All-American placements in the top five.

"Since Regionals, we have done some extremely difficult workouts, just to replicate the type of intensity of Nationals and what racing a full 5K and 8K entail. We've also been doing time trials to keep our bodies acclimated to the race intensity, and I feel quite positive heading in because we've been able to get people healthy and sharper and stronger over the last couple of weeks.

"The course is a really nice mix of elements. Overall, it's a dedicated cross-country course, and they do a good job of keeping it nice and smooth. It should be really cool weather on Friday morning, which should produce some pretty fast times."

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For other information on the races, visit mbusabercats.com/schedule.