This is the release from USTFCCCA on the NCAA D1 Cross country broadcast to be shown on Saturday, November 19, 2022!

ESPNU To Broadcast 2022 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships Races Uninterrupted

NEW ORLEANS – The USTFCCCA has once again combined efforts with ESPN and is pleased to announce that the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships will be presented live via telecast via ESPN’s linear channels and through ESPN’s online platforms.

The thrilling, unpredictable event returns to live television for the third year in a row, as the upcoming 2022 championships will be exclusively presented on ESPNU and available through the ESPN App on Saturday, November 19, starting at 10 a.m., Eastern.

LINK: Watch 2022 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships

The USTFCCCA had previously worked with ESPN to air the rescheduled 2020 and 2021 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, in addition to collaborating with other broadcast partners to air the 2008 and 2009 championships. To date, those have been the only live telecasts of the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

The two-hour live telecast on November 19 will feature, without commercial interruption, the women’s six-kilometer national-championship race at 10:20 a.m. Eastern, with the men’s 10-kilometer national-championship race to follow at 11:10 a.m., Eastern.

Post-championships coverage and the ensuing awards ceremonies will be streamed live on ESPN3 and through the ESPN App on mobile and connected devices.

LINK: Watch 2022 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships Post-Championships Coverage

The event will take place at the Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Okla. Oklahoma State University is hosting the national championship for the second time in the past two years, having also welcomed the nation for the rescheduled 2020 edition in March 2021.

Truly unique in the collegiate sporting landscape, no other sport features the number of institutions represented on the field-of-play at one time as compared to cross country. Thirty-one teams in each race will battle to raise an NCAA Division I national championship trophy while up to 255 student-athletes per race will be vying for individual glory.

Teams and individuals chosen to compete in the championships were first revealed via a selection show this past Saturday on NCAA.com.

NC State’s women and Northern Arizona’s men are the defending champions, having topped the podium last year in Tallahassee, Florida. It was the Wolfpack’s first title in program history, while the Lumberjacks won their fifth in the past six years. Mercy Chelangat, who won the women’s individual title the last time the meet was held at the Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course and finished runner-up last year, returns in 2022.

The championships telecast, produced by the USTFCCCA in coordination with TrackTown Productions, will be hosted by SportsCenter’s John Anderson, with Carrie Tollefson and Kyle Merber providing analysis and play-by-play.

Anderson and Tollefson have previously teamed up on eight broadcasts of the TCS New York City Marathon as well as the past two broadcasts of the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Anderson, a staple for ESPN’s SportsCenter, has provided hosting and play-by-play commentary for several collegiate track & field and cross-country events across ESPN networks. He has also hosted The Bowerman Presentation seven times.

Tollefson, a five-time NCAA champion and 2004 Olympian, won the Division I cross country individual title as a junior in 1997, and she led the Villanova Wildcats to the cross country national championship crown during her 1998 senior campaign. Her work as an analyst has been featured previously with ESPN, ABC, NBC, NBCSN, and USATF.tv — a bevy of work that has featured many world-class running events.

Merber is a former professional runner with a mile personal best of 3:52.22, who was also once the second-fastest man in collegiate history over 1500 meters. In addition to working in marketing and partnerships at American Express, he writes a weekly newsletter called The Lap Count, providing commentary and analysis for CITIUS MAG.