There were no banners, or finish line structures. No participant gifts or race previews. The website looked a bit different & there was no social media coverage. But on November 4, 2006 there was a club running race in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania and for the very first time two individual and team national champions were crowned. It was a necessary start to put collegiate club running on the scene. As NIRCA celebrates our 10th National Cross Country Championship meet this weekend, here is a brief look back…

NATIONALS 2006 – Lock Haven, PA

North Carolina Men, Penn State Women Crowned Inaugural Champs

The inaugural Nationals was hosted largely by the Penn State Club, which at the time was led by two of the founding NIRCA members. Unable to secure a course in State College, as initially planned, Lock Haven University (a division II school just east of PSU) and its head varsity xc coach Aaron Russell offered up the schools course, which was the site of numerous NCAA regional meets over the years. The flat all-grass course around corn-fields in central Pennsylvania would be one of the fastest ever used in the now ten year history of the meet.

The University of North Carolina would lay claim to the first ever men’s national championship title in a tight battle where the top four teams in the 12 (complete) team race were all under 100 points. Led by individual race champion Brock Phillips, who broke the tape in 25:44, and the sixth place finish of TJ Sullivan, the Tar Heel men scored 54 points. Illinois was second with 62 as Ryan Beeson placed second overall. Michigan Ann Arbor finished third with 74 points while Penn State was fourth with 83. Other clubs represented in the first-ever men’s nationals included Indiana, Maryland, James Madison, Ball State, Purdue, Michigan State, Pennsylvania, Cornell, Central Michigan and Michigan Dearborn.

Four freshmen placed in the top five in the women’s race but it was a grad student taking home the title. Penn State’s Ruth Mick won by over one minute, speeding around the LHU course in 22:35, a time that still stands today as one of the top 25 all-time performances at NIRCA Nats. With five other Nittany Lions in the top ten, including the 3-4 finish of Carly Petrarca and Bethany Gunther, Penn State would roll to the team title with 24 points. Michigan Ann Arbor, who had actually beaten the same PSU squad one month prior at the Michigan Fall Classic, would take the runner-up trophy with 49 points. The Maize and Blue were led by the runner-up finish of freshman Athena Eyster (23:39) who would go on a few years later to help start the Harvard Running Club when she was a grad student. North Carolina was third with 89 points while JMU placed fourth with 120.

NATIONALS 2007 – Bloomington, IN

Ducks Join NIRCA, Sweep Titles

The University of Oregon Running Club quickly learned about this new, growing organization called NIRCA and despite being thousands of miles from nearly every other member club they wanted to get in on the action. And boy did they make a splash in their Nationals debut.

Flying across the country to Bloomington, Oregon kept flying once they hit the course. Junior Keith Laverty won the individual title on the rolling hills of the IU XC Course in 26:02 while teammate Anthony Broom was third in 26:10. That 1-3 finish was big as Oregon edged Michigan Ann Arbor 42-47 for the crown. Illinois made the team podium again, placing third this time with 102 points while the defending champs from UNC were fourth with 122. In addition to UO, Minnesota, North Carolina State, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, and Washington University St. Louis competed in their first NIRCA Nationals meet.

The 2007 women’s championship saw more of the same from the club in green and yellow. With four runners in the top ten, Oregon scored 35 points to finish well ahead of defending champ Penn State who was second with 56 points. Kristen Mohror won the first of many national medals for her by placing fourth overall in 24:08. UNC was third for the second straight year with 57 points. On the individual front, Indiana freshman Jen Laser got the big upset over defending champion Ruth Mick, crossing the line in 23:45.

NATIONALS 2008 – State College, PA

Wisconsin Men Dominate, Michigan Women Win First Title

A new club and a new champion. Wisconsin made their first appearance at Nationals a very memorable one, scoring 35 points to easily win the team title with four runners in the top ten. Sophomores Ben Garbe and Nick Limoni led the Badgers in 4th and 5th place, running 27:16 and 27:17 on the 5.2 mile Penn State Golf Course (yes it was longer than 8k). Oregon was a distant second with 89 points while Michigan Ann Arbor was third with 99. The individual battle saw grad students going 1-2-3. Indiana’s Matt Flaherty out-kicked Penn State’s Kelly Fermoyle and Miami Ohio’s Ryan Wilson to the finish in 26:54. Five years later, in 2013, Flaherty would go on to win the United States 50 Mile Road National Championship.

A very close individual race on the ladies side saw Kelsey Armstrong of Clemson upset Michigan Ann Arbor’s Rachel White by just two seconds. Armstrong covered the 6k course in 22:30 but White and her teammates got plenty of hardware to take back to Ann Arbor when they took their first team title with 51 points. Michigan freshman Kyla Berendzen placed third to help the Wolverine title cause. Penn State took second in the team race with 65 points while defending champ Oregon stayed on the podium with a third place finish and 137 points.

The 2008 National Championships saw a huge explosion in participation as the men’s field nearly doubled from the year before with 24 complete teams (and 26 overall) while the women’s race had 16 scoring teams, and 27 different clubs represented. 227 men and 183 women crossed the finish line in State College.

NATIONALS 2009 – Ypsilanti, MI

Penn State Women Best Ever? Wisconsin Men Repeat; B Race Introduced to XC Nats

Many headlines surrounded the 2009 championships. A repeat team champ for the first time. A “small school” with an individual champ. A third championship race added to the day. A historic performance in the women’s race. And the warmest NIRCA XC Nationals on record.

Starting with the ladies. It wasn’t just a team win for Penn State, it was the biggest landslide in the nine year history of the meet. There were 232 runners in the race but PSU had all five of their scorers in the top 11, led by individual champion Lauren Philbrook, who would become the first NIRCA female to go under 22 minutes, winning in 21:59. Teammate Maddie Stark was third as the Nittany Lions beat runner-up Oregon 29-109. The 80 point margin of victory and the average team time of 22:45 for Penn State still top the NIRCA record books heading into 2015 Nationals. Philbrook would later go on to qualify for the US Olympic Marathon Trials.

In the men’s race, Wisconsin became the first NIRCA club, men’s or women’s, to go back-to-back, as the Badgers rolled to another title, scoring 62 points this time. Nick Limoni became a second year All-American with his fourth place finish for the Badgers in 25:10. Illinois was second with 105 points while Michigan Ann Arbor scored 128 for third place. The equally big headline in the men’s race was the individual champ. Michigan Dearborn’s Andrew Coates gave the smaller University of Michigan school its first national champ, when he crossed the line in 24:55 on the Eagle Crest Golf Course. Clemson’s Wallace Campbell was second in 24:59.

With record high numbers in the men’s field, NIRCAwas forced to implement a B race for the first time. Later the B race would become a staple of NIRCA XC Nationals for men and women but it all began in 2009.

NATIONALS 2010 – Bloomington, IN

Michigan Men Stop Wisconsin’s Three Peat Bid, Penn State Women Win Big Again

The IU XC Course became the first repeat site for a NIRCA XC National meet but there was no repeating, errr three-peating, for the Wisconsin men as the University of Michigan edged the two-time champs 63-100. Virginia was a very close third with 101 points and Illinois was fourth with 110. The Wolverine title chase was led by the individual race champion, Duriel Hardy who won easily in 25:24. Maize and Blue teammate Nathan Peters was third in 26:00. In between them was Clemson’s Wallace Campbell who was second for the second straight year.

Penn State easily defended their team title on the women’s side, and once again it was at Oregon’s expense. Similar to a year ago, Penn State scored 40 points to Oregon’s 118 and the Nittany Lions had a near identical team average of 22:46 (second fastest all-time) on a more difficult course. The Wisconsin women got their first team trophy, finishing third with 123 points. Cassie Knight and Lauren Philbrook went 2-3 for PSU but it was Illinois’ Danelle Woods who held on for the individual win in 21:54.

2010 Nationals will go down in history as the host to the first Open/Alumni Race at XC Nats. Now a Nationals tradition, the Open Race in 2010 featured 22 runners.

NATIONALS 2011 – Charlotte, NC

Illinois Sweeps Team Titles on Very Fast Course; Suda and Weaver Individual Champs

McAlpine Creek Park, the site of 2011 NIRCA Nats, will forever be known as “that really fast course”, especially for the men. But regardless of the course structure, Illinois would win titles for the first time – and they got two.

The Illini women won a heated battle with Virginia. After two years of blow-outs, this race was decided by the slimmest margin in NIRCA history when Illinois won 85-87. Amanda Zamora’s fifth place finish in 22:32 was the best on the day for the champs. Both schools averaged 23:04 to tie for the third-best average team time all-time. Penn State was third with 130 points. Individually, Florida grad student Betsy Suda stole the show, breezing the fast course in an all-time NIRCA Nats best 21:27 while Indiana’s Becky Boyle was a comfortable second in 21:42.

The men’s race wasn’t nearly as close, as Illinois rode the third and fifth place finish of Michael Frigo (24:27) and Aaron Silver (24:41) to score 87 points to Iowa State’s 115 and Virginia’s 128. Illinois’ 25:04 average time is the fastest ever at NIRCA Nats as eight of the top ten all-time team averages came in 2011. The individual championship went to Delaware’s Andy Weaver in 23:59. Clemson’s Wallace Campbell would end his NIRCA career as quite possibly the most decorated men’s runner in our Association, placing second for the third consecutive year.

NATIONALS 2012 – Hershey, PA

Oregon Men Back on Top, UVA Women Get Revenge on Grueling Hershey Hills

A few years removed from their dominating performance in their first trip to NIRCA Nationals, Oregon finally got their second crown on the toughest XC Nationals course to date. Covering the sometimes steep rolling hills…twice….was no easy task for any club but the Ducks were the best at it in 2012, scoring 42 points and averaging 25:58, good for ninth best all-time average and the best outside of McAlpine at that point in time. Four Ducks were in the top eight overall, with John Carley in fourth (25:47) and David Mckay in sixth (25:53). Indiana University burst onto the men’s scene with 65 points and a second place finish (a preview of big things to come for the Hoosiers) while Iowa State was third with 115. Individually, the Mid-Atlantic Region had the top two times as Virginia Tech’s Joey Murray avenged his regional loss to Pittsburgh’s Trent Binford-Walsh, covering the tough Parkview XC Course in 25:26.

Virginia was so close a year ago, and with so many runners backs there wasn’t much that was going to stop the Cavalier women. With three in the top seven and all five in the top 16, UVA dominated regional rival Penn State 40-107. Michigan Ann Arbor was third with 137. Virginia’s title charge was led by Anne Menefee’s fourth place stick in 23:00 while Clare Whitesell and Anna Gordon were sixth and seventh. In a thrilling individual battle, Indiana’s Becky Boyle, the 2011 runner-up, passed Wisconsin’s Dani Fischer on the final Hershey hill (affectionately known as “poop out hill”) to win the championship in 22:31. Defending champ Betsy Suda of Florida led early but fell back to 9th place.

NATIONALS 2013 – Hershey, PA

Suda Bounces Back to Finish on Top, UVA Repeats; IU Men Strong

Florida grad student Betsy Suda was favored to become NIRCA’s first-ever repeat individual champ after dominating in 2011. But the tough Hershey course wore on her in 2012. With one shot left, she redeemed herself, got her title back, and made NIRCA history as our only two-time champ. Suda crossed the line in 22:22, 20 seconds better than Minnesota’s Cara Donohue. The team title wasn’t quite as easy for UVA this time around. After finishing second at Regionals to Penn State, UVA turned the tables to best the Nittany Lions 71-80. Anna Gordon led the Virginia squad this time, placing third overall in 22:44 while Sarah Sisson was fifth. Despite the close loss, Penn State earned a podium finish for the eighth consecutive year, a long streak that would end the next year. North Carolina earned a third place finish with 97 points.

Indiana’s rise to NIRCA’s prominence may have begun a year earlier but 2013 was the first time the Hoosiers reached the summit. Scoring 66 points, IU was well ahead of runner-up Iowa State with 93 and third place Penn State with 114. Three harriers in the top eight of the race helped the IU cause with Philip Rizzo placing fifth in 26:06 and David Eichenberger in seventh as IU averaged 26:28. The individual title went to a Mid-Atlantic Region runner for the third straight year as Virginia’s Gregory Jantzen surprised the field for a win in 25:31, 0:08 better than Oregon’s Robert McLauchlan.

NATIONALS 2014 – East Lansing, MI

Indiana Men Amaze, Michigan Women Cop Second Crown

Returning to the state of Michigan for the second time in NIRCA’s history, the ninth National Championship had a first – a weather delay. Due to extremely chilly conditions, the Forest Akers Golf Course needed a few hours to warm up and defrost before runners could hit the greens. The state now lays claim to the warmest and coldest Nationals. But things heated up quickly when the Indiana men took to the line.

It was a historic margin of victory for any NIRCA club, men’s or women’s, as the IU clu
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