The D1 Mountain Region is top heavy for the men this year.  There are four conference champions and the Roy Griak (BYU) Wisconsin Adidas (Northern Arizona and BYU went 1-2) and D1 Pre-Nationals (Colorado) winners.  

#1 Colorado followed their pre-nationals win with a victory at the Pac-12 meet over #4 Oregon.  #2  Northern Arizona took the first three spots at the Big Sky meet to easily win.  #5 BYU beat #10 Portland to take the WCC title and #11 New Mexico dominated the Mt West title.  The two of these four teams behind the two automatic placers should easily be awarded at-large bids unless one of these top four falls apart and does not finish in the top four.

All four schools are located at altitude.  This is the first year where the Mountain range has so dominated the national rankings.  Athletes see the benefit of training at altitude.  In order from highest to lowest, Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, Arizona (6903'), Colorado in Boulder, Colorado (5340), New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico (4900'), and BYU in Provo, Utah (4549') bring meaning to the Mountain region.  All four schools all heavily distance oriented track and distance programs to take advantage of the altitude.  Many schools, including Oregon going to Bend, Oregon (3623'), practice at a pre-season camp at altitude to help their athletes prepare for the altitude.  These schools train year-round at altitude. Other ranked teams including #23 Colorado State in Ft Collins (4982') and #27 Southern Utah in Cedar City (5840) may also get a shot at at-large births. 

Defending NCAA champion Kennedy Kithuka of Texas Tech is undefeated this year and he is a heavy favorite at the regional meet ahead of Conference USA champion Anthony Rotich of UTEP.  The four top rated teams have some top individual competitors.  Northern Arizona Sophomore Futsum Zenesellaisie was sixth and BYU's Jason Witt was eighth at the Wisconsin Adidas meet. At NCAA D-1 Pre-Nationals Morgan Pearson was seventh and freshman Ben Saarel was ninth.  BYU's Tylor Thatcher was undefeated until the Wisconsin Adidas meet.  This should be a great individual race at the Mountain region

The women's teams are led by highly ranked #8 New Mexico and #10 Colorado.  New Mexico was second to #5 Florda State at the Notre Dame Invitational.  #33 BYU and others in the region may have to get an automatic bid since they will struggle to get an at-large bid.  Coach Joe Franklin of New Mexico consistently has teams that challenge for an NCAA XC trophy.  #10 Colorado was having a down season until finishing a close second to #1 Arizona at a deep Pac-12 meet.  

Top individual returnees, runner-up Shalaya Kipp of Colorado and #3 Amber Henry of Weber State, have struggled this year. Colorado's Carrie Verdon and Freshman Erin Clark are likely to join Kipp and Henry with a high finish.