Stanford earned its first NCAA title in 66 years and did it with just seven athletes scoring, with only pole vaulter Toby Stevenson (second place) from outside the distance events. Stanford scored 72 points in Durham, N.C., ending Arkansas' run of eight consecutive NCAA titles, with the Razorbacks second with 59. Brad Hauser led the Cardinal, capturing individual titles in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Brother Brent Hauser also came up big, finishing fourth in both events. In addition, Jason Balkman was second in the 10,000 and freshman Jonathon Riley placed sixth in the 5,000, giving the Cardinal 41 points in those two events alone, which would have allowed Stanford to place fourth overall. Putting Stanford over the top was the middle-distance duo of Gabe Jennings and Michael Stember. Jennings won the 1,500 meters with Stember finishing just behind him for a 1-2 Cardinal finish. Stember also placed fourth in the 800 meters, meaning Stanford scored 64 points in the distances.

Bud Spencer was one of the world's fastest in 1928 when he set the world record in the 400 meters (47.0) and was a member of the world-record setting 1,600-meter (3:14.12) and mile relay teams (3:13.4). Spencer not only captured an NCAA title in the 440-yard dash, but also won an Olympic gold on the 1,600 relay team. Dink Templeton's team also featured Olympic gold medalist Bob King, who won the NCAA title with a high jump of 6-6 5/8. Overall, Stanford won five individual events, from Spencer, King, Ward Edmonds (pole vault), Eric Krenz (discus) and Harlow Rothert (shot put), and scored a meet record 72 points in Chicago.

Incredibly, with just six athletes, Stanford won its first NCAA or national championship in any sport. Biff Hoffman (discus), Tiny Hartranft (shot put) and Hugo Leisner (120-yard high hurdles) each won individual titles at the Chicago meet, while the rest of the national championship team consisted of Ted Miller (440), Rich Richardson (880) and Tommy Work (high jump). Templeton, thought to be the greatest coach of his era, strived on challenging the status quo, introducing new methods and pushing his athletes to 22 national individual titles, 16 world records and nine Olympic medals over his career.