The NCAA cross country season hits its starting line today, so run through our primer, then let’s, ahem, meet the women and men racing toward national glory.

From hoops to soccer to baseball to golf, older athletes have been defying expectations for years, proving it’s never too late to pursue collegiate sports dreams.

Recruitment can be a delicate dance, especially with NIL busting a move on the floor.

The race to court top prospects is more cutthroat than a Taylor Swift Ticketmaster queue, and a program’s very future can hinge on its incoming freshman class.

About 14K athletes compete at the NCAA’s 313 DII schools, with top stars making the big leagues (particularly the NBA and NFL) — though that’s becoming rarer: With the transfer portal, it’s easier than ever for DII’s best to jump to a DI school.

Group of Five, mid-majors…whatever you call them, these smaller DI schools are rapidly catching up to their Power Five (er, Four?) competitors.

There are 438 DIII schools nationwide, and although it’s rare for DIII athletes to go pro, it’s certainly not unheard of, with recent grads doing so from fútbol to football.

In general, the most elite competition and the deepest pockets can be found at DI schools, scaling down through DII and DIII. But the biggest difference lies in the DII and DIII divide: Unlike in DI and DII, DIII athletes aren’t eligible for athletic scholarships. That means they’re playing purely out of love of the game (and possibly NIL money, of course).

Welcome to another edition of summer school Q&A!

But it’s not just the head coach (HC) leading these squads — for many teams, there’s a whole crew supporting the skipper, and graduate assistants do most of the grunt work.

In an exclusive interview with The GIST, UChicago’s Rachael Hewson Grotts, who earned her M.S. in Post-Professional Athletic Training at a DI school before her current DIII stint, spoke about how a school’s resources directly affect players’ lives.

Not to sound like a broken record, but NIL regulations (or the lack thereof) created a whole host of new challenges for athletic departments, and keeping up can feel like a never-ending game of whack-a-mole.