Kiptoo joins 2019 winner Kurgat for Cyclones, who become first men’s program in meet history to capture individual and team titles in same year; New Mexico rebounds from tough loss at Notre Dame to edge North Carolina State in rematch, with West Virginia’s McCabe surging late to earn another big win

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Iowa State didn’t have quite enough support behind Wesley Kiptoo in a one-point loss Sept. 24 to Brigham Young at the Roy Griak Invitational, but the Cyclones had plenty in reserve Friday at the 12th Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational to rally past Stanford in the men’s 8-kilometer championship race.

New Mexico wasn’t able to keep pace with North Carolina State in a 5-kilometer showdown Oct. 1 at the Notre Dame Joe Piane Invitational, but in a longer race and on a tougher layout two weeks later, the Lobos demonstrated their growth in the marquee women’s 6-kilometer race of the entire regular season at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Verona.

RESULTS | RACE VIDEOS | INTERVIEWS | MURRAY SCHUKAR PHOTOS

Kiptoo became the No. 3 competitor all-time at Nuttycombe, producing the fastest time since the 8-kilometer course was revised in 2018 by clocking 23 minutes, 11.2 seconds, with the Cyclones placing all five scorers in the top 30 to neutralize three Stanford athletes in the top 10 in an 88-104 victory and their first men’s team title in meet history.

Iowa State captured a women’s team championship in 2012. The Cyclones also became the first program to have a pair of individual winners, along with Edwin Kurgat in 2019, in addition to the first men’s lineup to sweep the individual and team titles in the same year at Nuttycombe.

New Mexico became the first women’s program to capture three Nuttycombe championships, along with victories in 2015 and 2017, as the Lobos had all five scorers in the top 50 to overcome Kelsey Chmiel (20:00.2) and Katelyn Tuohy (20:08.4) both finishing in the top five for North Carolina State to edge the Wolfpack by a 93-102 margin.

West Virginia’s Ceili McCabe, a Canadian athlete who finished 153rd in 2019 at Nuttycombe in 21:40.5, made a decisive surge in the final 400 meters to get past Chmiel and Oklahoma State’s Taylor Roe (21:01.1), prevailing in 19:57.4.

Following a 42nd-place finish March 15 at the Division 1 national cross country final, missing the last All-American spot by less than two seconds, McCabe went on to place sixth June 12 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Oregon, and has won both cross country races this fall, including Oct. 2 at the Live in Louisville Classic.

McCabe will get a rematch with Roe and seventh-place finisher Cailie Logue of Iowa State (20:10.7), the three-time Big 12 champion, at the conference cross country final Oct. 29 in Stillwater, Okla.

After top-ranked North Carolina State placed five scorers in front of New Mexico’s No. 2 runner at Notre Dame, the No. 3 Lobos responded with an 18-second gap among its first five finishers at Nuttycombe, led by Stefanie Parsons placing 12th in 20:21.9.

Gracelyn Larkin was 15th in 20:23, Emma Heckel took 16th in 20:24.4, Abbe Goldstein secured 24th in 20:37 and Samree Dishon finished 26th in 20:39.9.

The Wolfpack rested All-American Hannah Steelman in preparation for an Oct. 29 return to Notre Dame for the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, which hurt North Carolina State in the second half of its lineup, with Dishon placing 20 spots ahead of Heather Holt.

Samantha Bush was 18th in 20;27.4 and Alexandra Hays took 31st in 20:42.6 for North Carolina State, which finished well in front of No. 2 Brigham Young, as the Cougars finished third overall with 152 points.

BYU rested All-American Whittni Orton-Morgan for the postseason, with Aubrey Frentheway leading the Cougars by securing 13th in 20:22. Lexy Halladay (20:31) and McKenna Lee (20:34.7) were the only other BYU athletes in the top 25.

Minnesota relied on three scorers in the top 15 to place fourth overall with 188 points, with Bethany Hasz securing sixth in 20:09.5, Abby Kohut-Jackson placing 10th in 20:19.1 and Megan Hasz earning 14th in 20:22.7.

Oklahoma State, a Midwest Regional rival of the Gophers, benefited from Roe’s performance in the absence of No. 2 runner Gabby Hentemann to finish fifth overall with 206 points. Despite not having an athlete in the top 30, Colorado State achieved a 17-second spread among its top five scorers to secure sixth in the team competition with 236 points, led by Lily Tomasula-Martin placing 35th in 20:45.3.

Jenna Magness finished fourth in 20:05.6 for 12th-place Michigan State, Alison Pray of Southern Utah produced her third top 10 effort of the season by earning eighth in 20:11.4 and Amanda Vestri took ninth in 20:13.3 as Syracuse was seventh overall with 265 points.

The men’s championship race showcased six of the top 15 performances on the renovated 8-kilometer course, with Oregon’s Cooper Teare (23:20.9) and Aaron Bienenfeld (23:23.2) finishing second and fourth overall to help the Ducks take sixth with 271, just two points in front of Gonzaga (273), led by Wil Smith in 11th (23:37.1) and James Mwaura in 14th (23:38.2).

Stanford led Iowa State by a projected 14-point margin at the 6-kilometer mark and maintained the advantage with one kilometer remaining. But despite Charles Hicks (23:21.9) closing strong to take third, Cole Sprout (23:27.5)  placing sixth and Ky Robinson (23:32.2) securing seventh, the Nos. 4 and 5 runners for the Cardinal dropped a combined 29 spots in the late stages of the race.

That shift in momentum opened the door for the Cyclones to take control, with Festus Lagat (23:45.3) placing 17th, Thomas Pollard (23:46.5) and Gable Sieperda (23:47.9) finishing 20th and 21st, with Ryan Ford (23:52) capping the scoring for Iowa State in 29th overall.

Tulsa had five scorers in the top 50 to take third overall with 160 points.

Bob Liking became the second-fastest Wisconsin athlete in program history on the 8-kilometer layout at Thomas Zimmer, clocking 23:27.1 to take fifth, with the Badgers placing fourth with 187 points, ahead of fifth-place Air Force with 225.

Morgan McDonald won the 2018 Nuttycombe championship race for Wisconsin in 23:17.6.

Michigan State’s Morgan Beadlescomb, the fastest returning competitor following his seventh-place finish in 2019, earned eighth overall Friday in 23:32.2. Utah State’s Camren Todd took ninth in 23:36.2 and Providence’s Marcelo Rocha completed the top 10 individuals in 23:36.9.

Shuaib Aljabaly of Wisconsin, competing unattached, won the men’s 8-kilometer “B” race in 24:18.3.

Boise State placed five scorers in the top 40 to earn the team victory with 30 points.

Syracuse’s Matthew Scrape was runner-up in 24:23.3 and Air Force’s Ryan Johnson returned to competition for the first time in six months to take third in 24:29.4.

New Mexico showcased even more depth in the women’s 6-kilometer “B” race, with Elise Thorner winning in 20:57.8 and Ali Upshaw taking third in 21:02.1, as the Lobos produced five scorers in the top 16 to achieve a 24-46 victory over Wisconsin.

Haley Johnston was second in 21:00.5 for BYU, which finished third with 56 points.