The Iowa State cross country teams brought home two team titles this weekend at the Bob Timmons Classic. 

Wesley Kiptoo, a new addition to the men’s squad, finished first in the 6k race on the men’s side. He finished with a time of 18:06.0.

The top three finishers for the men — Kiptoo, Festus Lagat and Milo Greder — were all Cyclone runners, which allowed the team to glide toward the first place title. 

As the Cyclone men move on toward their next meet, the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Missouri, they will be faced with nonconference competitors and will be challenged to keep this dominating attitude alive. 

The Cyclone women took the Bob Timmons Classic crown with eight runners in the top nine. The domination the women put on allowed them to clinch the title in record fashion. The women had all three top three finishers. 

Cailie Logue won the 5k individual title with a time of 17:08.5, leading the Cyclone women. Logue is a senior member of the Cyclone squad and this race proved her depth with distance. 

Freshman runner Winrose Chesang took second place with a time of 17:50.4 in her first cross country race as a Cyclone.

Sophomore runner Dana Feyen came in third place with a time of 17:59.3. 

Chesang and Feyen’s times showed that this season, the women’s squad has talent from freshmen to seniors. This helps them tremendously and allows them more range in accomplishing their goals of winning team and individual titles. 

The women will be competing at the Gans Creek Classic on Oct. 3 and will be faced with the challenge of new competitors.  

With limited meets on the schedule and seeing new teams they haven’t seen this season, the Cyclones will have to be prepared for whatever is thrown their way. However, the push for individual personal records and team times shifts this narrative. 

With only two more meets on the current schedule, both squads are faced with improving at a faster pace. With new competitors comes new talent, especially within the conference of the University of Missouri Tigers, the Southeastern Conference.

The shift in competition can either be a challenge or a breakthrough for the Cyclones, who haven’t competed against nonconference teams since the NCAA National Championships in November of last year. 

The competitors at the Bob Timmons Classic included Iowa State, the University of Kansas and Kansas State University, all Big 12 Conference teams, a fewer number than prior years. 

Through the evolving COVID-19 pandemic and the wins of the weekend, the Cyclone cross country teams are competing and practicing at an elite level, which is seen throughout the finishes of this weekend.