The Iowa State cross country teams punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships following their performance at the NCAA DI Midwest Regional on Friday.
The Cyclones ran at the Greiner Family Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Oklahoma, against over 30 other teams to qualify for the NCAA Championships on Saturday.
The top two teams from the men’s and women’s races earned automatic qualifying bids, while the remaining teams had to wait until Saturday evening to find out if they received an at-large invitation.
The Cyclone men came into the Midwest Regionals as the No. 2 team in the Week 5 U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, with their top competition, Oklahoma State, checking in at No. 1 in the same poll.
The Cyclones and the Cowboys finished first and second at the 10k, with the Cowboys edging out the Cyclones by a score of 38-41. The two teams combined for eight of the top 10 runners, with each team accounting for four All-Regional runners.
The Cyclones were led by the trio of sophomore Joash Ruto, sophomore Robin Kwemoi Bera and graduate Sanele Masondo, who placed second, third and fourth, respectively.
Ruto, a sophomore from Nakuru, Kenya, finished 3.2 seconds behind Denis Kipngetich of Oklahoma State for the individual title.
Senior Rodgers Kiplimo and junior Devan Kipyego placed 10th and 22nd to round out the placing Cyclone runners.
While the Cyclones finished three points behind the Cowboys, Iowa State had a cumulative time nine seconds faster than Oklahoma State. While the Cyclones couldn’t quite avenge their Big 12 championship loss, the matchup between the two teams will likely decide the 2025 NCAA DI champions.
The Iowa State women entered Friday as the favorite to win the women’s regional as the highest-ranked team in the Week 5 USTFCCCA poll.
The Cyclone women placed three runners in the top 10, but due to strong runs by No. 9 Oklahoma State and No. 11 Northwestern, the No. 6 Cyclones failed to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA championships.
Oklahoma State surprised with freshmen Isca Chelangat and Maureen Rutoh earning first and second, while Northwestern placed all five scoring runners in the top 20.
Redshirt freshman Betty Kipkore led the way for the Cyclones with a third-place finish, while freshman Mercy Kibet placed fifth and senior Maelle Porcher secured ninth place. Star freshman Mercyline Kirwa did not run at the regional.
Redshirt senior Riley Beach and freshman Maya Ledesma finished 41st and 50th to complete the Cyclones’ scoring lineup.
While No. 6 Iowa State didn’t earn an automatic bid, the Cyclones received the first at-large invitation to the NCAA Championships. The at-large qualification gave Iowa State its 14th invitation in the past 17 seasons and will be its 27th invitation overall.
The Hawkeyes also ran at the regional, and the Cyclones defeated them with a score of 41-430 in the men’s race and 108-424 in the women’s race. The victories over Iowa earned Iowa State four points in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk series to bring the score to 9-2. The Cyclone and Hawkeye wrestling teams will compete Nov. 30 in Ames for the next installment of the series.
The men’s and women’s cross country teams now set their sights on the national title at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri, Saturday.
