The Division I championship race has been run at different distances. From 1938 to 1964 the race was four miles; from 1965 to 1975, six miles; and from 1976 to the present the race has been 10,000 meters (6.21 miles). (**)div I,II,III COMB.
| Year | Team Champion | Individual Champion |
|---|
| 1938 | Indiana | Greg Rice, Notre Dame |
| 1939 | Michigan State | Walter Mehl, Wisconsin |
| 1940 | Indiana | Gilbert Dodds, Ashland |
| 1941 | Rhode Island | Fred Wilt, Indiana |
| 1942 | Indiana/Penn State | Oliver Hunter, Notre Dame |
| 1943 | colspan=2 style="text-align:center;" | No meet |
| 1944 | Drake | Fred Feiler, Drake |
| 1945 | Drake | Fred Feiler, Drake |
| 1946 | Drake | Quentin Brelsford, Ohio Wesleyan |
| 1947 | Penn State | Jack Milne, North Carolina |
| 1948 | Michigan State | Robert Black, Rhode Island |
| 1949 | Michigan State | Robert Black, Rhode Island |
| 1950 | Penn State | Herb Semper, Kansas |
| 1951 | Syracuse | Herb Semper, Kansas |
| 1952 | Michigan State | Charles Capozzoli, Georgetown |
| 1953 | Kansas | Wes Santee, Kansas |
| 1954 | Oklahoma A&M | Allen Frame, Kansas |
| 1955 | Michigan State | Charles Jones, Iowa |
| 1956 | Michigan State | Walter McNew, Texas |
| 1957 | Notre Dame | Max Truex, Southern California |
| 1958 | Michigan State | Crawford Kennedy, Michigan State |
| 1959 | Michigan State | Al Lawrence, Houston |
| 1960 | Houston | Al Lawrence, Houston |
| 1961 | Oregon State | Dale Story, Oregon State |
| 1962 | San Jose State | Tom O'Hara, Loyola (Ill.) |
| 1963 | San Jose State | Victor Zwolak, Villanova |
| 1964 | Western Michigan | Elmore Banton, Ohio |
| 1965 | Western Michigan | John Lawson, Kansas |
| 1966 | Villanova | Gerry Lindgren, Washington State |
| 1967 | Villanova | Gerry Lindgren, Washington State |
| 1968 | Villanova | Michael Ryan, Air Force |
| 1969 | UTEP | Gerry Lindgren, Washington State** |
| 1970 | Villanova | Steve Prefontaine, Oregon** |
| 1971 | Oregon | Steve Prefontaine, Oregon |
| 1972 | Tennessee | Neil Cusack, East Tennessee State |
| 1973 | Oregon | Steve Prefontaine, Oregon |
| 1974 | Oregon | Nick Rose, Western Kentucky |
| 1975 | UTEP | Craig Virgin, Illinois |
| 1976 | UTEP | Henry Rono, Washington State |
| 1977 | Oregon | Henry Rono, Washington State |
| 1978 | UTEP | Alberto Salazar, Oregon** |
| 1979 | UTEP | Henry Rono, Washington State** |
| 1980 | UTEP | Suleiman Nyambui, UTEP |
| 1981 | UTEP | Mathews Motschwarateu, UTEP |
| 1982 | Wisconsin | Mark Scrutton, Colorado |
| 1983 | UTEP (vacated)/Wisconsin | Zakarie Barie, UTEP |
| 1984 | Arkansas | Ed Eyestone, Brigham Young |
| 1985 | Wisconsin | Tim Hacker, Wisconsin ** |
| 1986 | Arkansas | Aaron Ramirez, Arizona** |
| 1987 | Arkansas | Joe Falcon, Arkansas |
| 1988 | Wisconsin | Bob Kennedy, Indiana |
| 1989 | Iowa State | John Nuttall, Iowa State |
| 1990 | Arkansas | Jonah Koech, Iowa State |
| 1991 | Arkansas | Sean Dollman, Western Kentucky |
| 1992 | Arkansas | Bob Kennedy, Indiana |
| 1993 | Arkansas | Josephat Kapkory, Washington State |
| 1994 | Iowa State | Martin Keino, Arizona** |
| 1995 | Arkansas | Godfrey Siamusiye, Arkansas |
| 1996 | Stanford | Godfrey Siamusiye, Arkansas |
| 1997 | Stanford | Mebrahtom Keflezighi, UCLA |
| 1998 | Arkansas | Adam Goucher, Colorado |
| 1999 | Arkansas | David Kimani, South Alabama |
| 2000 | Arkansas | Keith Kelly, Providence |
| 2001 | Colorado | Boaz Cheboiywo, Eastern Michigan |
| 2002 | Stanford | Jorge Torres, Colorado |
| 2003 | Stanford | Dathan Ritzenhein, Colorado |
| 2004 | Colorado | Simon Bairu, Wisconsin |
| 2005 | Wisconsin | Simon Bairu, Wisconsin |
| 2006 | Colorado | Josh Rohatinsky, Brigham Young |
| 2007 | Oregon | Josh McDougal, Liberty |
| 2008 | Oregon | Galen Rupp, Oregon |
The Division II championship race has been run at different distances. From 1958 to 1967 the race was four miles; from 1968 to 1975, 5 miles; and from 1976 to the present the race has been 10,000 meters (6.21 miles).(**)div I,II,III COMB.
| Year | Team Champion | Individual Champion |
|---|
| 1958 | Northern Illinois | Paul Whiteley, Emporia State |
| 1959 | South Dakota State | Paul Whiteley, Emporia State |
| 1960 | Central State (Ohio) | John Mulholland, Loras |
| 1961 | Southern Illinois | John Mulholland, Loras |
| 1962 | Central State (Ohio) | Leslie Hegedus, Central State |
| 1963 | Emporia State | John Camien, Emporia State |
| 1964 | Kentucky State | Ed Schneider, Northeast Missouri State |
| 1965 | San Diego State | Gene Takle, Luther |
| 1966 | San Diego State | Bob Fitts, Cortland State |
| 1967 | San Diego State | Arjan Gelling, North Dakota |
| 1968 | Eastern Illinois | Dave Robbins, Portland State |
| 1969 | Eastern Illinois | Ron Stonitsch, C.W. Post** |
| 1970 | Eastern Michigan | Mark Covert, Cal State Fullerton** |
| 1971 | Cal State Fullerton | Mike Slack, North Dakota State |
| 1972 | North Dakota State | Mike Slack, North Dakota State |
| 1973 | South Dakota State | Garry Bentley, South Dakota State |
| 1974 | Southwest Missouri State | Garry Bentley, South Dakota State |
| 1975 | UC Irvine | Ralph Serna, UC Irvine |
| 1976 | UC Irvine | Ralph Serna, UC Irvine |
| 1977 | Eastern Illinois | Michael Bollman, North Dakota State |
| 1978 | Cal Poly | James Schankel, Cal Poly ** |
| 1979 | Cal Poly | James Schankel, Cal Poly ** |
| 1980 | Humboldt State | Garry Henry, UNC Pembroke |
| 1981 | Millersville | Mark Conover, Humboldt State |
| 1982 | Eastern Washington | Greg Beardsley, Edinboro |
| 1983 | Cal Poly Pomona | Brian Ferrari, California (Pa.) |
| 1984 | Southeast Missouri State | Michael Vanatta, Southeast Missouri State |
| 1985 | South Dakota State | Samson Obwocha, Texas A&M-Commerce** |
| 1986 | Edinboro | Samson Obwocha, Texas A&M-Commerce** |
| 1987 | Edinboro | Charles Cheruiyot, Mount St. Mary's (Md.) |
| 1988 | Edinboro, Mankato State | Doug Hanson, North Dakota State |
| 1989 | South Dakota State | Rob Edson, Keene State |
| 1990 | Edinboro | Doug Hanson, North Dakota State |
| 1991 | UMass-Lowell | Martin Lyons, Edinboro |
| 1992 | Adams State | Phillip Castillo, Adams State |
| 1993 | Adams State | Shane Healy, Adams State |
| 1994 | Adams State | Charles Mulinga, Lewis** |
| 1995 | Western State | Charles Mulinga, Lewis |
| 1996 | South Dakota State | Alexandr Alexin, Central Missouri State |
| 1997 | South Dakota | Elly Rono, Southern Indiana |
| 1998 | Adams State | Yi Min Wu, Edinboro |
| 1999 | Western State | Michael Aish, Western State |
| 2000 | Western State | Alfred Rugema, Abilene Christian |
| 2001 | Western State | Michael Aish, Western State |
| 2002 | Western State | Alfred Rugema, Abilene Christian |
| 2003 | Adams State | Celedonio Rodriguez, Adams State |
| 2004 | Western State | Nicodemus Naimadu, Abilene Christian |
| 2005 | Western State | Nicodemus Naimadu, Abilene Christian |
| 2006 | Abilene Christian | Nicodemus Naimadu, Abilene Christian |
| 2007 | Abilene Christian | Nicodemus Naimadu, Abilene Christian |
The Division III championship race has been run at different distances. From 1973 to 1975 the race was 5 miles, and since 1976 it has been 8,000 meters (4.97 miles).(**)div I,II,III COMB.
| Year | Team Champion | Individual Champion |
|---|
| 1973 | Ashland | Steve Foster, Ashland |
| 1974 | Mount Union | David Moller, Rochester |
| 1975 | North Central (Ill.) | Vin Fleming, Lowell |
| 1976 | North Central (Ill.) | Dale Kramer, Carleton |
| 1977 | Occidental | Dale Kramer, Carleton |
| 1978 | North Central (Ill.) | Dan Henderson, Wheaton (Ill.)** |
| 1979 | North Central (Ill.) | Steve Hunt, Boston State** |
| 1980 | Carleton | Jeff Milliman, North Central (Ill.) |
| 1981 | North Central (Ill.) | Mark Whalley, Principia |
| 1982 | North Central (Ill.) | Nicholas Manciu, St. Thomas (Minn.) |
| 1983 | Brandeis | Tony Bluell, North Central (Ill.) |
| 1984 | St. Thomas (Minn.) | Mark Beeman, Brandeis |
| 1985 | Luther | James White, UMass-Dartmouth** |
| 1986 | St. Thomas (Minn.) | Arnie Schraeder, Wisconsin-Stevens Point** |
| 1987 | North Central (Ill.) | Jukka Tammisuo, St. Lawrence |
| 1988 | Wisconsin-Oshkosh | David Terronez, Augustana (Ill.) |
| 1989 | Wisconsin-Oshkosh | David Terronez, Augustana (Ill.) |
| 1990 | Wisconsin-Oshkosh | Seamus McElligott, Haverford |
| 1991 | Rochester | Sandu Rebenciuc, Augustana (Ill.) |
| 1992 | North Central (Ill.) | Gary Wasserman, Nebraska Wesleyan |
| 1993 | North Central (Ill.) | Dan Mayer, North Central (Ill.) |
| 1994 | Williams | Jeremie Perry, Williams** |
| 1995 | Williams | John Weigel, North Central (Ill.) |
| 1996 | Wisconsin-La Crosse | Matt Brill, North Central (Ill.) |
| 1997 | North Central (Ill.) | Brett Altergott, Wisconsin-La Crosse |
| 1998 | North Central (Ill.) | Erik Dieckman, North Central (Ill.) |
| 1999 | North Central (Ill.) | Dave Davis, Puget Sound |
| 2000 | Calvin | Tim McCoskey, North Central (Ill.) |
| 2001 | Wisconsin-La Crosse | J.B. Haglund, Haverford |
| 2002 | Wisconsin-Oshkosh | Ryan Bak, Trinity (Conn.) |
| 2003 | Calvin | Josh Moen, Wartburg |
| 2004 | Calvin | Josh Moen, Wartburg |
| 2005 | Wisconsin-La Crosse | Neal Holtschulte, Williams |
| 2006 | Calvin | Macharia Yout, Widener |
| 2007 | NYU | Tyler Sigl, Wisconsin-Platteville |
| 2008 | SUNY Cortland | Peter Kosgei, Hamilton |
