The 2024 NCAA DI Regional Championships were full of surprises. Some teams and individuals walked away from Regional Friday feeling good, while others were left scratching their heads.

Throughout the day, we were surprised by several outcomes but these were the four that stood out the most.

• Subscribe Today To Watch FloTrack Live And On-Demand
  
• Get The Latest Cross Country Rankings At FloTrack
• NCAA DI XC Regionals Recap and Highlights
• Four Key Takeaways From The NCAA Regional Championships

1. Wake Forest Men Finish Fifth in the Southeast Region

If Wake Forest missing out on one of the two automatic qualifying spots wasn’t enough, the Wake Forest men finished fifth at the NCAA Southeast Region Championship.

In fact, they barely held on to fifth with Furman pressured them, only seven points back.

At first glance, you might think that Wake Forest imploded, and to some extent that has some truth. After finishing eighth at the ACC Championship and running 22:40 over 8k, freshman JoJo Jourdon didn’t fare as well over the 10,000m distance. He finished 40th at the region championship and ran 31:04.

But, there’s a reason that the team remained stagnant in the FloTrack College XC Rankings presented by HOKA, despite falling to 14th in the coaches’ poll.

At the regional meet, they didn’t run Rocky Hansen, or Aidan Ross. After finishing second at Nuttycombe, Hansen was ranked inside the top 20 of the FloTrack College XC Rankings presented by HOKA. He then slipped outside the top 100 after he suffered from an illness at the ACC Championship and finished in 32nd.

Wake Forest opted to rest both Hansen and Ross at the region championship but they’ll both be back in the mix this week. As for Jourdon, we expect him to bounce back with more 10,000m experience under his belt and Wake Forest will be back in full force.

2. Amy Bunnage Wins In Her 2024 Season Debut

Yes, in her first cross country race of the season, Stanford’s Amy Bunnage threw down the gauntlet to win the NCAA DI West Region Championship.

After missing most of the season, Bunnage returned to the course and outran Oregon’s Silan Ayyildiz and Maddy Elmore. Ayyildiz has been a mainstay in the FloTrack College XC Rankings presented by HOKA.

Bunnage has a 15:11 5,000m personal best. She finished 17th at the 2024 Outdoor NCAA Championship but hasn’t raced since.

We didn’t expect her to line up, and we certainly didn’t expect her to win. Now, Stanford is in a great position for this week’s NCAA Championship.

3. George Couttie Comes Out Of Nowhere!?

Who is George Couttie? And more importantly, where did he come from?!

Virginia Tech’s George Couttie won the NCAA DI Southeast Region Championship after finishing sixth at the ACC Championship.

Couttie was in eighth at the 8,000m mark, but then he moved past Gary Martin (UVA), Ethan Strand (UNC), Justine Kipkoech (EKU), Dylan Schubert (Furman) and Parker Wolfe (UNC) to win the region championship.

And with those seven spots, Virginia Tech moved ahead of Wake Forest to finish fourth and effectively earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship.

It was an all-important win for Couttie.

But who is he? Couttie is a transfer from DII Charleston (WV). He won the 2023 NCAA DII Atlantic Region Championship before finishing 46th at the NCAA DII Championship. He transferred to Virginia Tech after failing to qualify for the 2024 NCAA DII Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Now, he’s taken down some of the best runners in the nation.

4. NC State Women Win the Southeast Region

Admittedly, I was wrong about NC State. Very wrong.

After finishing fifth at the ACC Championships, I ultimately wrote them off… which was a mistake.

The Wolfpack came out with a vengeance at the Southeast Region Championships, winning with 60 points over Virginia (85 points) and North Carolina (119 points). They lost to both of those teams at the ACC Championship.

NC State put two in the top three with Grace Hartman collecting the individual win.

Recency bias can bite you. Looking back on their season as a whole, NC State finished seventh at Wisconsin Pre-Nationals. Of the six teams that beat them, BYU, Washington, NAU, West Virginia, Notre Dame and New Mexico, four are ranked in the top 10 of the FloTrack College XC Rankings presented by HOKA.

With Hartman and Hannah Gapes up front for the Wolfpack, they have an excellent opportunity to perform well at the national meet.

When Is The NCAA D1 Cross Country Championships 2024; NCAA XC Championship Schedule

The Cross Country Championships are at 10:20 a.m. (women’s 6000m) and 11:10 a.m. (men’s 10000m) on Nov. 23. The Division II and Division III Championships will be held on the same day, though start times have not yet been determined.

Where Are The NCAA D1 Cross Country Championships 2024?

The NCAA Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Division I National Championships are at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Verona, Washington. They will be hosted by the University of Wisconsin.

Here are where all divisions are being held: 

• Division I: Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Verona, Wisconsin
• Division II: Arcade Creek Cross Country Course in Sacramento, California
• Division III: LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana.

FloTrack Is Streaming Cross Country High School State Meets All November

November is also the month of high school cross country championship meets. Check the FloTrack schedule for a list of all the state championships streaming on FloTrack

Join the Cross Country Conversation on Social

• Follow us on Twitter @FloTrack.
• Follow us on Instagram @flotrack.
• Follow us on TikTok @flotracktv
• Watch us on YouTube.
• Like us on Facebook.