NCAA field hockey and cross country champions will be crowned this weekend

The GIST: Play vintage Taylor and stock up on some bubbly — the 2023–24 school year’s first national champions will hoist their hardware this weekend.

🏑 Field hockey: Host No. 1 UNC opens today’s semifinals against Virginia at 12 p.m. ET. These squads split wins this year, with UNC avenging their only conference loss by beating Virginia 3–2 in the ACC tourney semis. As for the ’Hoos, Virginia’s already shown they can bag an upset in this tourney, but ousting the reigning champs is one helluva tall order.

• Then at 3 p.m. ET, the only non–ACC contender, No. 2 Northwestern, will take on No. 3 Duke. Northwestern’s won 20 (!!!) straight games, and they’re rarin’ to make their third consecutive final, but the Blue Devils’ formidable defense can’t be overlooked.

• The winners of these clashes will advance to Sunday’s 1:30 p.m. ET title game on ESPNU. Start cutting that confetti — fockey’s grand finale will not disappoint.

👟 Cross country: Over 500 runners will race for individual and team national championships in front of a sold-out crowd tomorrow, but the sport’s fiercest rivalry between last year’s top two women’s finishers, No. 2 NC State senior Katelyn Tuohy and No. 8 Florida redshirt junior Parker Valby, is commanding all the hype.

• Valby already proved she can beat Tuohy this season, but betting against the current titleholder in what could be her final NCAA race before going pro is risky, to say the least. Prep for a photo finish at 10:20 a.m. ET on ESPNU.

• The men begin just 50 minutes later, and while there’s no dominant individual favorite, No. 1 Northern Arizona’s the clear frontrunner for the team trophy. Adding a seventh title in eight years would turn this dynasty into a legend.