The Iowa State men’s and women’s cross country teams will begin their postseason play at the Big 12 Championship in Lawrence, Kansas on Friday in the hopes of cementing themselves as national championship contenders.
The Cyclone men have been the unanimous No. 1 team in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association national poll for all of the 2025 season, but mysterious suspensions may hinder the team’s ability to take home their first Big 12 Championship title since 2019.
Speculation has surrounded Iowa State since Director of Cross Country Jeremy Sudbury announced the suspension of several unnamed athletes for the remainder of the season. Neither Sudbury nor the Iowa State Athletics Department has revealed any more information since the suspensions were announced Monday.
Without knowing which athletes were suspended, the Cyclones are still the favorites despite the heavy competition. The Cyclones will rely on sophomores Robin Kwemoi Bera and Joash Ruto, the latter of whom won Big 12 Runner of the Week following his runner-up performance at the Gans Creek Invitational in September.
Senior Rodgers Kiplimo and grad student Sanele Masondo, as well as freshman Meshack Kimutai, will look to back up their top-20 individual finishes at the Gans Creek Invitational. Juniors Devan Kipyego and Seth Clevenger will likely round out the Cyclones’ top seven runners.
The Cyclones will need to bring their A-game, as the Big 12 Championship features two fellow top-five teams in No. 2 Oklahoma State and No. 5 Colorado. Last season’s Big 12 champion, No. 8 BYU, represents the conference’s final nationally ranked team.
From an individual standpoint, Ruto will aim to be the first cyclone to be the Big 12 individual champion since Wesley Kiptoo in 2021. His most likely competitors will be Oklahoma State’s Brian Musau and Denis Kipngetich, who are ranked second and third in the FloTrack rankings, respectively.
The sixth-ranked Iowa State women will look to continue their steady rise to the top of the USTFCCCA rankings on Friday.
The Cyclone women will continue their strategy of relying on their mighty top four runners as they attempt to upset No. 1 BYU.
Freshman Mercyline Kirwa will anchor the team as she aims to build off her fifth-place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational, which helped vault the team to a third-place overall finish. Kirwa will compete for the individual title as only BYU’s Jane Hedengren is ranked higher than her in FloTrack’s individual rankings.
Redshirt freshman Betty Kipkore, true freshman Mercy Kibet and senior Maelle Porcher will provide an encore to their top-30 finishes at the Nuttycombe Invitational.
The fifth-place runner for the Cyclone women will be worth watching at the meet. Sophomore Ruby Hughes has been Iowa State’s best runner outside of the top four, and a strong performance from her may take the Cyclones over the hump to win the meet.
The biggest obstacles in the way of Iowa State in their quest for the Big 12 title will be No. 1 BYU and No. 7 West Virginia. BYU has been the unanimous No. 1 since the USTFCCCA preseason poll and won the event last year. BYU also has four of FloTrack’s top 50 runners, while the Cyclones only have three.
The Cyclones defeated West Virginia at the Nuttycombe Invitational, but that victory was by a mere 14 points and anything can happen in postseason play. No. 11 Oklahoma State, No. 16 Colorado and No. 18 Utah could also play spoiler at the meet.
The Big 12 Championship will be hosted by Kansas University at the Rim Rock Farm. The men’s 8k will begin at 10 a.m. Friday and the women’s 6k will begin at 11 a.m. Friday. The awards ceremony will be held at noon, where the top 15 finishers will be named to the All-Big 12 team.
The Big 12 Championship will be aired on ESPN+ at 10 a.m. and live results can be tracked on the Delta Timing website.
