After two second place finishes at the Roy Griak Invitational in September, the Cyclone cross country program travelled to Madison, Wisconsin, to compete in the Nuttycombe Invitational. 

At the Nuttycombe Invitational, the Cyclones competed against the likes of BYU, Colorado, Minnesota, NC State, New Mexico, Oklahoma State, Providence and Wisconsin: the top eight nationally ranked teams. 

Senior Cailie Logue’s late surge in the race allowed the Cyclones to take ninth and finish in the top 10 at the Nuttycombe Invitational. Logue made a comeback from 55th place at the 2,000 meter mark to finish seventh overall. 

There were many Cyclones who pushed the team to finish top ten, such as senior, Ashley Tutt, finishing 37th and junior Dana Feyen finished 51st. 

The Cyclone women are halfway through their season and have three competitions left. With senior leadership from Logue and stable performances from multiple Cyclones, the team has an opportunity to hang with the likes of NC State and Minnesota on the national stage.

In the first two meets of the season, the Cyclones saw finishes from freshmen and sophomore women. With continued training and more exposure to competitions like the Nuttycombe Invitational, the young Cyclones will have the opportunity to make impacts towards the end of this season and into the next. 

There were women and men from both programs who ran in other 6k and 8k races for the Cyclones. 

The majority of the Cyclone men competed in the 8k race at the Nuttycombe Invitational. The team is currently ranked in the top ten nationally. 

Junior Wesley Kiptoo took the Nuttycombe Invitational crown with a time of 23:11.2.

Top thirty finishes from Kiptoo, seniors Festus Lagat, Thomas Pollard, Ryan Ford and junior Gable Sieperda led the Cyclones to win the Nuttycombe Invitational team title. 

The Cyclones also had three more runners in the top 80: juniors Ezekiel Rop and Timothy Sindt and senior Chad Johnson. 

The Cyclone men’s depth has allowed them to reach these heights. 

The men’s race at the Nuttycombe Invitational was loaded with 17 nationally ranked teams. They defeated a top 3 team; the Stanford Cardinals. 

With this performance, the Cyclones have what it takes to compete against more highly-ranked teams such as Northern Arizona and Notre Dame. To continue the pattern of having multiple Cyclones in the top thirty will propel the Cyclones in the rest of the season. 

The men have continued to improve throughout their season. Even though this is only their second race, more and more Cyclones have been making the ranks to help propel the team to victory. 

Both Cyclone teams will compete at the Big 12 Championship in Stillwater, Okla., on October 29, the NCAA Midwest Regional in Iowa City, Iowa, on Nov. 12 and the NCAA Championship on Nov. 20. The Cyclones have not competed in three competitions within a four week period all season.