November 9, 2023 | by Taylor Pill

WARSAW, Ind. -- The 2023 NCCAA DII National Cross Country Championships start tomorrow morning, and the Sabercats' Men's Cross Country Team is dangerously close to snatching a spot on the podium.

Based on projections of this season's individual times, the Sabercat men "should" finish in fourth place as a team with a total of 90 points - just four points shy of Ozark Christian College and tantalizingly close to the podium. But as we learned at NCCAA Regionals in October, anything can happen. Projections are anything but prophesy.

On the women's side, Maranatha is expected to finish in fourth place with a 34-point deficit behind Ozark Christian. The biggest scare for Maranatha will be Faith Baptist, who are slated to finish just six points behind. That duel could be a championship within the championship, as Maranatha pushed past Faith at Regionals in October to capture the regional title. Revenge will be at the forefront of Faith's mind.

OVERVIEW

• Date: Friday, 11/10 at 10:00 a.m. EST (Men's 8K)/11:45 a.m. EST (Women's 5K)
• Venue: Warsaw Community High School
• Location: Warsaw, Ind.
• Fields: (Below)
• Info: (Championship Central)
• Live Updates: (Live Stats) (Twitter)

Men's Preview

Bob Jones University is favored to win its eighth consecutive national title while Crown College, who has not reported a team time this season, is expected to finish in second place. The projections described above don't necessarily reflect the reported team times below, as some institutions have not reported consistent times to the NCCAA this season.

(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, but if Crown College and Ozark Christian run at their most recent paces, the top spot in the women's field should be too close to call. For Maranatha, it will be a final chance to peak, as the entire team set a collegiate PR at their last event - NCCAA Regionals.

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

THE FIELD (MEN)

Here's a brief overview of the teams that are expected to field full teams of five runners, and be eligible for placement. Note that some schools have outdated or incomplete reports for the team times, so the "rankings" below aren't necessarily the most accurate predictor of final placement at Nationals:

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THE FIELD (WOMEN) 

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

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"Our hope is fourth [place] for both teams, which is where we're slated at the moment," said Head Coach Haly Hendricks. "But on the day, I hope we leave knowing we gave all we had and did it for God's glory - I hope we walk away from that course tomorrow with no regrets. I'm excited about their excitement - the teams are pumped and ready to go, and we're ready to have the best race of our lives and they are ready to push and get those results. 

The biggest challenge in the race is always the mental battle - your mind has to be stronger than your body. In a race like this... that is even more important [than usual]. The runners will have to fight for the results they want tomorrow, and that means pushing through when their body says they can't. We'll have some competition we haven't even seen this year yet at all, so we don't even know exactly what to expect, but we know we need to come out and give it everything we have. And we are primed and ready to do that."

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