For an NCAA sport, there's quite a bit of overlap between men's and women's cross-country teams. Though they train independently, the two teams share the same facilities and usually have the same coach. Sometimes, they even travel together for big meets.

They’ll even share their silt and sludge when competing in mud runs.

The main difference between the two teams is running distance. Men run the 8K, 10K, or 12K. Women run the 5K and the 6K.

Additionally, Title IX requires colleges to offer a similar number of scholarships to women and men across all sports (sans football). And big team sports tend to gobble up much of the male quota. As a result, there are often more cross-country scholarships available for women than for men.

Huzzah, girl power.