All NCAA University Division members were eligible to qualify for the meet.
In total, 14 teams and 136 individual runners contested this championship.
[1] The team national championship was won by the San José State Spartans, their first.
They were the first racially integrated team to win the national cross country championship.
[2] The individual championship was won by Tom O'Hara, from Loyola–Chicago, with a time of 19:20.30.