EARLYSVILLE, VIRGINIA, November 18 — One year ago, Oklahoma State lost the NCAA Championship to Northern Arizona on a tiebreaker.
Rather than pout over the loss, Cowboys’ coach Dave Smith reloaded by adding three top level newcomers — Denis Kipngetich, Brian Musau, Adisu Guadia — to returnees Alex Maier (5th at last fall’s NCAA XC), Fouad Messaoudi (12th in ’22) and Victor Shitsama (31st in ’22).
“I had been aware of Denis Kipngetich for about a year but didn’t have scholarship money for him. When we did, we opened our recruiting back up and signed him,” said Coach Dave Smith. “I was clued into Brian Musau but he was primarily a middle distance runner. We brought him on as guy we thought could develop into a contributor in cross country over the next couple of years.”
But the Pokes still had to overcome the undefeated Lumberjacks, who were aiming for their fourth straight team title and seventh in the last eight years.
The 31 contending teams sprinted off the start line in front of a sold-out crowd lining the University of Virginia’s Panorama Farms course. Clear skies and temperatures in the low 60s greeted the runners as they charged into the rolling 10,000m course.
The Arkansas Razorbacks led with 47 points when the men’s made the first turn at the kilometer. NAU was just behind at 79 points with Drew Bosley and Nico Young leading the way past the split in a swift 2:29. The Cowboys were third with 187 points.
By the time the field looped back past the start line at 2K, the Lumberjacks had a slight edge over Arkansas, 91 to 95, with Oklahoma State’s point-score dropping to 149.
“We went into the year knowing that to win we would have to beat NAU and NAU is very good at forcing you into difficult decisions from the gun. So we tried to prepare for that by running hard from the gun at the Big 12 championships,” said Coach Dave Smith. “For today we talked about running to win, not running not to lose and that meant being much more aggressive than we typically are. But when I heard we were already down to 149 points at 2K — I was hoping to see more like 200 — I was a little nervous that we might be out over our skis.”
The Cowboys pulled even with NAU by 4K, with both teams scoring 86 points and Oklahoma State’s Musau and Kipngetich joining Bosley and Young at the front of the pack.
By halfway, the Pokes moved into a firm lead at 54 points with Maier, Shitsama, and Messaoudi joining Kipngetich and Musau in the top 20. The Lumberjacks remained a clear 2nd at 81 points.
The Cowboys maintained this margin over NAU throughout the second half of the course.
“By 6K we had a good lead and so we were telling them to start playing it safe and minimize risk,” said Coach Dave Smith.
While Oklahoma State was solidifying their team win, the men’s individual race was heating up.
Stanford’s Ky Robinson — the NCAA 5000/10,000 champ last June in Austin — started to push the pace around 8K, with Harvard’s Graham Blanks, New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel, and the Cowboys’ Kipngetich separating themselves from the pack.
Over the next kilometer, Samuel pushed the pace with only Blanks maintaining contact.
The undefeated Blanks surged hard with 800-meters remaining and began to edge away from Samuel. The Harvard junior slowly opened a gap on a long downhill with 400 remaining, then charged up the final hill into the finishline winning in 28:37.7.
“Told you guys yesterday I was going to try to run smart, but to be honest I ran [stupid]. I covered a lot of stupid moves, wasted a lot of energy. You just watched me run a 10K with my heart.”
Blanks’ NCAA Cross Country win is the first by an Ivy League man.
Samuel claimed 2nd in 28:40.7, while Robinson held on for 3rd in 28:55.7.
Oklahoma State’s runners finished 4th, 8th, 10th, 12th, and 15th to score 49 points and secure the team title for the Cowboys.
“Last year was an incredible competition and it was hard to come out on the wrong end of it but it stoked the fire for these guys. It’s not just the win, but knowing we had to earn it that feels so good,” said Coach Dave Smith. “NAU sets an incredibly high bar and they put the rest of us on notice over the past 8 years. What they have done and continue to do in this current 8-year stretch is incredible. They are one of the greatest sports dynasties in NCAA history.”
The Lumberjacks finished 2nd with 71 points. NAU’s Coach Mike Smith said “An all-time great team in the NCAA, Oklahoma State. Hats off to them. The performance of that team with 49 points is historical. It’s an amazing, amazing race. We got beat and that’s what athletics is all about. Our guys ran great though!”
BYU was 3rd with 196 points, followed by Arkansas in 4th with 211 to round out the podium.
NCAA XC MEN’S RESULTS
Earlysville, Virginia, November 18 —
Teams
(adjusted places)
| 1. Oklahoma State | 4–8–10–12–15 (43–70) | 49 |
| 2. Northern Arizona | 5–6–18–20–22 (51–69) | 71 |
| 3. BYU | 27–30–39–48–52 (147–dnf) | 196 |
| 4. Arkansas | 7–13–36–72–83 (dnf—dnf) | 211 |
| 5. Iowa State | 16–31–37–47–99 (143–190) | 230 |
6. North Carolina 249; 7. Texas 262; 8. Stanford 291; 9. Syracuse 299; 10. Wisconsin 330; 11. Princeton 345; 12. Air Force 368; 13. Montana State 374; 14. Notre Dame 398; 15. Harvard 398; 16. Cal Baptist 430; 17. NC State 435; 18. New Mexico 465;
19. Michigan 472; 20. Villanova 477; 21. Butler 484; 22. Virginia 512; 23. Portland 529; 24. Wake Forest 536; 25. Colorado 551; 26. Tennessee 556; 27. Florida State 620; 28. Gonzaga 647; 29. Iona 675; 30. Georgetown 686; 31. Eastern Kentucky 704.
Individuals
†=not in team scoring
10,000m (254 started, 236 finished)
| 1. *Graham Blanks | (Harv) | 28:37.7 |
| 2. ***Habtom Samuel’ | (NM-Eri) | 28:40.7 |
| 3. *Ky Robinson’ | (Stan-Aus) | 28:55.7 |
| 4. ***Denis Kipngetich’ | (OkSt-Ken) | 28:59.7 |
| 5. Drew Bosley | (NnAz) | 29:03.8 |
| 6. *Nico Young | (NnAz) | 29:04.2 |
| 7. *Patrick Kiprop’ | (Ar-Ken) | 29:07.7 |
| 8. ***Brian Musau’ | (OkSt-Ken) | 29:11.0 |
| 9. *Parker Wolfe | (NC) | 29:12.6 |
| 10. **Fouad Messaoudi’ | (OkSt-Mor) | 29:13.3 |
| 11. Devin Hart | (Tx) | 29:14.1 |
| 12. *Victor Shitsama’ | (OkSt-Ken) | 29:16.1 |
| 13. *Kirami Yego’ | (Ar-Ken) | 29:17.2 |
| 14. *Liam Murphy | (Vill) | 29:17.5 |
| 15. Alex Maier | (OkSt) | 29:20.2 |
| 16. *Sanele Masondo | (IaSt) | 29:22.1 |
| 17. Alex Phillip | (NC) | 29:26.8 |
| 18. Aaron Las Heras’ | (NnAz-Spa) | 29:29.1 |
| 19. Perry Mackinnon’ | (Syr-Can) | 29:30.8 |
| 20. †*Victor Kiprop’ | (Al-Ken) | 29:31.5 |
| 21. *Santiago Prosser | (NnAz) | 29:32.6 |
| 22. †**Jason Bowers | (ETn) | 29:32.7 |
| 23. *Rodger Rivera | (Tx) | 29:33.0 |
| 24. †*Dylan Schubert | (Furm) | 29:35.5 |
| 25. Brodey Hasty | (NnAz) | 29:36.3 |
| 26. Matthew Richtman | (MtSt) | 29:36.8 |
| 27. Tom Brady | (Mi) | 29:37.1 |
| 28. Luke Combs | (AF) | 29:38.2 |
| 29. *Nicholas Bendtsen | (Prin) | 29:38.6 |
| 30. †Nickolas Scudder | (Char) | 29:38.6 |
| 31. †Chris Devaney | (Loyola/Chi) | 29:39.7 |
| 32. ***James Corrigan | (BYU) | 29:40.1 |
| 33. ***Evans Kiplagat’ | (NM-Ken) | 29:41.8 |
| 34. **Sam Lawler | (Syr) | 29:42.5 |
| 35. *Kenneth Rooks | (BYU) | 29:42.9 |
| 36. †***Timothy Chesondin | (Akr) | 29:43.4 |
| 37. **Rodgers Kiplimo | (IaSt) | 29:48.6 |
| 38. Haftu Strintzos’ | (Vill-Aus) | 29:49.3 |
| 39. *Austin Vancil | (Co) | 29:50.3 |
| 40. *David Mullarkey’ | (FlSt-GB) | 29:50.8 |
| 41. Jackson Sharp’ | (Wi-Aus) | 29:51.1 |
| 42. **Ben Shearer | (Ar) | 29:53.8 |
| 43. *Gable Sieperda | (IaSt) | 29:54.1 |
| 44. †**Victor Kibiego’ | (UTEP-Ken) | 29:57.0 |
| 45. *Ethan Strand | (NC) | 29:57.6 |
| 46. *Creed Thompson | (BYU) | 29:58.2 |
| 47. *Ben Rosa | (Harv) | 29:58.4 |
| 48. ***Ethan Coleman | (NDm) | 29:58.7 |
| 49. **Robert DiDonato | (Stan) | 29:59.3 |
| — | ||
| 50. ***Adisu Guadia | (OkSt) | 29:59.6 |
| 51. *Brett Gardner | (NCSt) | 30:00.1 |
| 52. Arturs Medveds’ | (CalB-Lat) | 30:01.3 |
| 53. *Ben Perrin | (MtSt) | 30:04.5 |
| 54. †*Jack Jennings | (Tul) | 30:05.1 |
| 55. *Said Mechaal’ | (IaSt-Spa) | 30:05.4 |
| 56. *Joey Nokes | (BYU) | 30:05.5 |
| 57. †Nicholas Russell | (SClara) | 30:05.9 |
| 58. †Titus Cheruiyot’ | (UTEP-Ken) | 30:07.1 |
| 59. Connor Nisbet | (Prin) | 30:07.2 |
| 60. †Joe Hudson | (Boise) | 30:07.6 |
| 61. **Will Anthony | (Va) | 30:07.9 |
| 62. *Corey Gorgas | (NnAz) | 30:08.7 |
| 63. *Lucas Bons | (BYU) | 30:08.7 |
| 64. Sean Maison | (AF) | 30:09.4 |
| 65. Florian LePallec’ | (But-Fra) | 30:09.7 |
| 66. †Cruz Gomez | (Ms) | 30:11.1 |
| 67. Eli Bennett | (AF) | 30:12.2 |
| 68. Vincent Mauri | (NDm) | 30:12.7 |
| 69. †*Max Murphy | (Ia) | 30:13.9 |
| 70. **Adam Spencer’ | (Wi-Aus) | 30:15.5 |
| 71. Hannes Burger | (NCSt) | 30:16.1 |
| 72. *Owen Smith | (MtSt) | 30:17.2 |
| 73. *Yasin Sado | (Va) | 30:18.8 |
| 74. ***Lex Young | (Stan) | 30:19.5 |
| 75. **Josh Truchon | (Wi) | 30:19.9 |
| 76. *Matt Strangio | (Port) | 30:21.2 |
| 77. †Chandler Gibbens | (Ks) | 30:21.7 |
| 78. Jake Gebhardt | (NC) | 30:21.8 |
| 79. Haftu Knight | (Tx) | 30:22.3 |
| 80. *Matthew Forrester | (But) | 30:22.6 |
| 81. ***Joseph O’Brien | (WF) | 30:23.5 |
| 82. †Bradley Makuvire’ | (Tul-Zim) | 30:24.0 |
| 83. *Bob Liking | (Wi) | 30:24.3 |
| 84. Theo Quax’ | (NnAz-NZ) | 30:25.9 |
| 85. **Will Muirhead | (OkSt) | 30:25.9 |
| 86. ***Valentin Soca’ | (CalB-Uru) | 30:26.7 |
| 87. Myles Richter | (Ar) | 30:27.2 |
| 88. **Assaf Harari’ | (Syr-Isr) | 30:27.2 |
| 89. *Jesse Hamlin | (But) | 30:28.3 |
| 90. Jacob Lewis | (Tn) | 30:28.8 |
| 91. Joshua DeSouza’ | (Iona-Can) | 30:28.9 |
| 92. Tyler Berg | (NDm) | 30:29.4 |
| 93. *Isaac Alonzo | (Tx) | 30:29.8 |
| 94. *Daniel O’Brien | (Prin) | 30:30.6 |
| 95. *Cole Sprout | (Stan) | 30:31.4 |
| 96. Giedrius Valincius’ | (CalB-Lit) | 30:31.8 |
| 97. Acer Iverson | (Harv) | 30:32.3 |
| 98. †*Hillary Cheruiyot’ | (Al-Ken) | 30:33.1 |
| 99. †*Michael Morgan | (Prov) | 30:33.1 |
| 100. Jacob McLeod | (Ar) | 30:33.8 |
| — | ||
| 101. Anthony Monte | (Prin) | 30:34.7 |
| 102. *Toby Gualter | (NCSt) | 30:34.8 |
| 103. **Lachlan Wellington | (Iona) | 30:35.5 |
| 104. **Emmanuel Sgouros | (Tx) | 30:35.7 |
| 105. †*Murphy Smith | (Navy) | 30:35.8 |
| 106. †*Abdel Laadjel’ | (Prov-Ire) | 30:35.9 |
| 107. *Alex Comerford | (Syr) | 30:36.4 |
| 108. †*Davis Bove | (SLO) | 30:36.7 |
| 109. Abdelhakim Abouzouhir’ | (EnKy-Mor) | 30:36.9 |
| 110. Nathan Lawler | (Syr) | 30:37.5 |
| 111. *Wil Smith | (Gonz) | 30:38.3 |
| 112. *Daniel McGoey | (NCSt) | 30:39.6 |
| 113. †*Nicholas Kiprotich’ | (Lib-Ken) | 30:40.1 |
| 114. †*Elliott Cook | (Or) | 30:40.4 |
| 115. ***Taha Er Raouy’ | (EnKy-Mor) | 30:41.8 |
| 116. Owen MacKenzie | (Mi) | 30:42.2 |
| 117. *Daniel Abdala | (Port) | 30:43.1 |
| 118. *Wes Porter | (Va) | 30:43.4 |
| 119. *Robert Cozean | (NDm) | 30:43.5 |
| 120. **Bryce Cerkowniak | (Gonz) | 30:43.8 |
| 121. *Timothy Sindt | (IaSt) | 30:44.4 |
| 122. *Jason Renze | (AF) | 30:44.8 |
| 123. †*Benjamin Godish | (NEn) | 30:45.6 |
| 124. *Jona Bodirsky | (Port) | 30:46.5 |
| 125. ***Charlie Sprott | (WF) | 30:47.2 |
| 126. *Gabriel Sanchez | (Tn) | 30:47.5 |
| 127. *Parker Stokes | (Gtn) | 30:47.6 |
| 128. †Taonga Mbambo’ | (LaS-NZ) | 30:47.8 |
| 129. *Evan Burke’ | (Stan-Can) | 30:48.4 |
| 130. †Eric Casarez | (TxAM) | 30:48.9 |
| 131. ***Birhanu Harriman | (Gtn) | 30:49.7 |
| 132. *Matthew Farrell | (Prin) | 30:50.3 |
| 133. ***Micah Wilson | (Wi) | 30:51.1 |
| 134. Cooper Schroeder | (FlSt) | 30:51.8 |
| 135. Nick Foster | (Mi) | 30:53.0 |
| 136. †*Andrew Nolan | (MiSt) | 30:53.4 |
| 137. *Luke Tewalt | (WF) | 30:53.7 |
| 138. *Levi Taylor | (MtSt) | 30:54.1 |
| 139. **Shane Brosnan | (Harv) | 30:57.0 |
| 140. *Matias Reynaga’ | (CalB-Arg) | 30:57.5 |
| 141. ***Nathan Lopez | (Mi) | 30:57.6 |
| 142. *Noah Hibbard | (Co) | 30:57.7 |
| 143. ***Gavin Ehlers | (WF) | 30:57.9 |
| 144. *Jonas Gertsen’ | (Port-Den) | 30:58.1 |
| 145. ***Joaquin Campos’ | (CalB-Chl) | 30:58.6 |
| 146. **Marco Langon | (Vill) | 30:58.9 |
| 147. ***Gitch Hayes | (NC) | 31:02.1 |
| 148. ***Lukas Kiprop’ | (NM-Ken) | 31:03.0 |
| 149. ***Michael Maiorano | (Gonz) | 31:03.1 |
| 150. †**Peter Visser | (Web) | 31:04.0 |
| — | ||
| 151. ***Dean Casey | (Tn) | 31:04.0 |
| 152. Paul Stafford | (Co) | 31:06.0 |
| 153. †Tyler Wirth | (Cinc) | 31:06.5 |
| 154. Brandon Olden | (Tn) | 31:07.1 |
| 155. Quinn Gallagher | (NDm) | 31:07.3 |
| 156. Eli Nahom | (Tn) | 31:07.4 |
| 157. †Jack Roberts | (Il) | 31:07.4 |
| 158. **Caleb Jarema | (Mi) | 31:08.5 |
| 159. *Abel Teffra | (Gtn) | 31:09.4 |
| 160. †**MacCallum Rowe | (LaS) | 31:11.4 |
| 161. ***William Zegarski | (But) | 31:11.8 |
| 162. †*Baidy Ba | (Kent) | 31:11.9 |
| 163. **Matthew Neill | (FlSt) | 31:12.4 |
| 164. ***Isaiah Givens | (Co) | 31:12.6 |
| 165. *Rob McManus | (MtSt) | 31:13.3 |
| 166. **Jayden Nats | (AF) | 31:13.3 |
| 167. Nikodem Dworczak | (EnKy) | 31:14.1 |
| 168. Connor Livingston | (Prin) | 31:16.1 |
| 169. †*Victor Neiva | (NTx) | 31:16.2 |
| 170. *Carter Solomon | (NDm) | 31:16.5 |
| 171. ***Hunter Jones | (WF) | 31:17.0 |
| 172. **Nathan Mountain | (Va) | 31:17.2 |
| 173. †Luke Henseler | (Pitt) | 31:18.1 |
| 174. **Thomas Termote | (NM) | 31:18.5 |
| 175. Jarrett Kirk | (Prin) | 31:19.6 |
| 176. Ezekiel Rop’ | (IaSt-Ken) | 31:21.0 |
| 177. †*Sean Kay | (Yale) | 31:21.0 |
| 178. **James Overberg | (Co) | 31:21.3 |
| 179. **Will Allen | (AF) | 31:21.9 |
| 180. **Luke Venhuizen | (Mi) | 31:27.3 |
| 181. ***Isaac Hedengren | (BYU) | 31:27.8 |
| 182. Henry Myers | (Vill) | 31:28.0 |
| 183. ***Sam Ells | (MtSt) | 31:28.8 |
| 184. ***Aidan Ross | (WF) | 31:30.0 |
| 185. ***Leo Young | (Stan) | 31:31.6 |
| 186. *Teddy Buckley | (Port) | 31:32.8 |
| 187. Yaseen Abdalla’ | (Tn-Sud) | 31:34.5 |
| 188. *Rowen Ellenberg | (Wi) | 31:34.6 |
| 189. *Damien Dilcher | (Iona) | 31:36.2 |
| 190. *Ian Harrison | (NCSt) | 31:37.6 |
| 191. ***Logan Law | (Gonz) | 31:37.9 |
| 192. *Zach Hughes | (NCSt) | 31:38.6 |
| 193. ***David Slapak | (But) | 31:39.6 |
| 194. **Nolan Hosbein | (Port) | 31:40.1 |
| 195. Zach Stewart | (Mi) | 31:41.0 |
| 196. ***Sam Burgess | (Harv) | 31:41.6 |
| 197. Ryan Kredell | (Vill) | 31:41.6 |
| 198. †**Brian Kiptoo’ | (MTn-Ken) | 31:41.9 |
| 199. **Lucas Guerra | (Gtn) | 31:42.8 |
| 200. *Rynard Swanepoel’ | (WF-SA) | 31:43.4 |
| — | ||
| 201. Jacob Hunter | (Va) | 31:45.6 |
| 202. **Jake Derouin | (Co) | 31:46.3 |
| 203. Abdirizak Ibrahim | (FlSt) | 31:49.6 |
| 204. *Abraham Avila-Martinez | (Tx) | 31:50.4 |
| 205. *Will Minnette | (But) | 31:51.4 |
| 206. *Nick Soldevere | (Iona) | 31:52.8 |
| 207. *Matthew Larkin’ | (NM-Can) | 31:54.4 |
| 208. **Hudson Heikkinen | (Tx) | 31:55.3 |
| 209. **Joe Ewing | (Harv) | 31:55.9 |
| 210. *Samuel Field | (NM) | 31:57.2 |
| 211. ***Pedro Marin’ | (CalB-Col) | 32:01.4 |
| 212. Zachary Cloud | (FlSt) | 32:01.5 |
| 213. *Cooper Laird | (Gonz) | 32:03.2 |
| 214. **Paul Talens | (Gonz) | 32:06.3 |
| 215. ***Jacob Nenow | (Tn) | 32:10.0 |
| 216. *Ahmed Ibrahim | (FlSt) | 32:14.2 |
| 217. ***Charlie North | (Gtn) | 32:15.0 |
| 218. ***CJ Singleton | (NDm) | 32:16.6 |
| 219. **Gary Martin | (Va) | 32:20.8 |
| 220. **Devon Comber | (Vill) | 32:21.2 |
| 221. ***Luke Ondracek | (Gtn) | 32:22.1 |
| 222. Jonathan DeSouza’ | (Iona-Can) | 32:28.4 |
| 223. Enock Kipchumba | (EnKy) | 32:29.8 |
| 224. Thomas Chaston | (Port) | 32:42.1 |
| 225. *Silas Winders | (IaSt) | 32:43.6 |
| 226. **Zane Bergen | (Stan) | 32:44.6 |
| 227. **Jonathan Carmin | (NM) | 32:46.5 |
| 228. Silas Derfel | (Syr) | 32:48.1 |
| 229. **Colton Sands | (NC) | 32:52.2 |
| 230. *Caleb Niednagel | (Co) | 32:56.1 |
| 231. ***Harvey Cramb | (MtSt) | 32:58.9 |
| 232. **Justin Wachtel | (Va) | 33:02.7 |
| 233. *Keeton Thornsberry | (EnKy) | 33:02.8 |
| 234. *Xian Shively | (Vill) | 33:03.9 |
| 235. Jack McMahon | (But) | 33:06.9 |
| 236. ***Luke Wiley | (NC) | 34:16.9 |
… dnfs—***Gideon Kiplimo (TxT), *Carson Williams (Furm), *Ahmed Kadri (EnKy), *Aidan Troutner (BYU)
***Ferenc Kovacs’ (Harv-Hun), Paul O’Donnell (Syr), **Matt Rankin (Iona), *John Malach (NCSt), **Max Sannes (AF), *Elias Schreml (Ar), **Reuben Reina (Ar), **Mohammed Jouhari (EnKy), *Vincent Yegon’ (MTn-Ken), *Evan Bishop (Wi), **Tadhg Donnelly (Iona), *Joe Farley (FlSt), *Camden Gilmore (Gtn), *Drew Kolodge (Gonz);… dnc—*Rikus Van Niekerk’ (CalB-SA).