The 1978 NCAA Division I Men's Cross Country Championships were the 40th annual cross country meet to determine the team and individual national champions of NCAA Division I men's collegiate cross country running in the United States. Held on November 20, 1978, the meet was hosted by the University of Wisconsin–Madison at the Yahara Hills Golf Course in Madison, Wisconsin. The distance for this race was 10 kilometers (6.21 miles).

All Division I cross country teams were eligible to qualify for the meet through their placement at various regional qualifying meets. In total, 29 teams and 241 individual runners contested this championship.^[1]

The team national championship was won by the UTEP Miners, their fourth title. The individual championship was won by Alberto Salazar, from Oregon, with a time of 29:29.70.^[2]

• Distance: 10,000 meters (6.21 miles)

More information Rank, Team ...

Team Result (Top 10) Rank Team Points UTEP 56 Oregon 72 Wisconsin 134 4 Penn State 220 5 Colorado 234 6 Tennessee Arizona 247 7 Indiana 252 8 Colorado State 254 9 Arkansas 300 10 Minnesota 301

Individual Result (Top 10) Rank Name Nationality Time Alberto Salazar Oregon 29:29.70 Michael Musyoki UTEP 29:39.20 Thom Hunt Arizona 29:34.10 4 Suleiman Nyambui UTEP 29:35.90 5 Steve Lacy Wisconsin 29:36.50 6 Marc Hunter Cleveland State 29:39.70 7 Don Clary Oregon 29:47.30 8 James Schankel Cal Poly–San Luis Obispo 29:48.00 9 Robert Snyder Penn State 29:48.20 10 Dan Henderson Wheaton (IL) 29:48.50

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• NCAA Men's Division II Cross Country Championship
• NCAA Men's Division III Cross Country Championship