There were six races on the docket at the 2005 NCAA Pre-Nationals meet on Saturday, 15th October in Terre Haute, Indiana. The races took place on the LaVern Gibson Course which is the venue for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on 21st November.

The men raced on abbreviated 8-kilometre course. The lads will run 10 kilometres at the Championships. The women raced the full 6k distance that they will compete at during the NCAA Championships.

The first race of the was the men's Blue race which was won by Brigham Young University junior Josh Rohatinsky in 23.30.7 with the team honours going to perennial powerhouse Stanford University with 89 points. Rohatinsky's time broke the 8k course record which was 23.34.8 set by Colorado's Jorge Torres in 2002.

The top Irish finisher was Waterford's Robbie Wade, who competes for Loyola University-Chicago. Wade ran 25.08 to place 108th.

Richard Corcoran, a sophomore from Villanova placed 111th with a time of 25.11.8. Both were the second runner in for their respective teams. The Villanova Wildcats, coached by Marcus O'Sullivan placed 26th in the team competition with 640 points.

The second race on the day was the men's White race Liberty's Josh McDougal who eclipsed Josh Rohatinsky's short-lived record of 23.30.7 with an emphatic time of 23.12.6. McDougal led from wire-to-wire with Iona's Richard Kiplagat choosing to fight the battle on another more meaningful day placing second in 23.32.7. The University of Colorado, the defending NCAA Champions won the team title with 70 points, 20 points clear of runner-up Notre Dame.

Mick Byrne's Iona College Gaels placed 9th with 239 points. Iona's Andrew Ledwith, from Co Meath, made his debut running a respectable 25.01 to place 83rd overall.

The individual winner of the first women's event, the Blue race was Butler University's Victoria Mitchell (Victoria, Australia) who pipped Columbia's Caroline Bierbaum by just .3 seconds in a time of 20.01.5. The recently wed Shalane Flanagan's course record 19.36.0 was never in jeopardy.

The only Irish athlete competing was Butler University junior Ava Hutchinson (Dundrum South Dublin) who had an off day placing 90th in 21.52.

The Michigan Wolverines women's team won the title in White race with 86 points, 10 points ahead of second place Arizona State. Christine Bolf, a senior from the University of Colorado was the individual champion in 20.12.3 with Wake Forest's Annie Bersagel in second with a time of 20.15.6.

Mick Byrne's Iona College women's team placed 26th with the dubiously demonic total of 666 points.

They were led by Salome Kosgei of Kenya who place 37th in 21.23. Iona newcomer, Dubliner Tracey Williams was next across for the Gaels placing 108th in 22.14. DSD's Michelle Gallagher was Iona's fourth finisher running 22.57 to place 168th overall.

Eastern Kentucky's Jacob Korir won the men's Open race in 24.08.7 with Southern Illinois' Joe Byrne placing 4th in 24.40.7. Byrne (Down Patrick, North Ireland) Byrne won the individual title for the third year in a row at the Saluki Invitational on 8th October in Carbondale, Illinois.

Byrne's Saluki teammate, Sarah Rinker won the final event of the day, the women's Open race in 21.24.7.