The Guilford College cross country program began in the fall of 2004. In the first two years of competition the main goal of the program was to field a full team and recruit more and better talent. The 2006 season was the first season that the men's and women's teams became competetive.

In 2006, the men's team grew from six to fourteen runners while the women's team grew from six to sixteen runners. The combination of the new athletes and the experience of the returning runners made for significant progress in the times and team scores. The men's team won the Division III titles at the Greensboro Cross Country Invitational and the Hagan Stone Classic. The men's team had seven runners run faster times than the top time for the team in 2005, doing so with the number two runner from the previous season being out with mono. The men's team also had its first ODAC Runner of the Week and All-Conference runner . The women's team also improved significantly with six athletes running faster than the number three runner from the previous year. The success of the teams is expected to continue as the experience of the athletes continues to grow along with continued successful recruiting.