College XC Roundup: Big 12 Powers Impress, Meet Sadie Sigfstead & Ed Bird, and Is Stanford Back?

(This is our recap of last week’s NCAA action. For the recap of the pro action, check out our Week That Wasa column: LRC WTW: Berlin Marathon Breakdown + Boulder Has A New Big Race)

The college cross country season is basically a sprint. While the 2024 season officially started on August 30 and ends on November 23 with the NCAA championships in Madison, Wis., most of the early-season meets consist of partial squads running odd distances. In reality, the NCAA cross country season runs from the last week of September until the week before Thanksgiving. That’s just eight weeks.

The latest sprint began in earnest last weekend. Between the Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison, the Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, Okla., the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Mo., and the Chile Pepper XC Festival in Fayetteville, Ark., most of the top teams in the country were in action. And while some of the outcomes were predictable (Oklahoma State is still very good), we also saw a few potential new stars emerge, big wins for the BYU men and Washington women at Nuttycombe, a resurgent performance from Stanford across both genders, and Iowa State’s new steeple star. Below, a closer look at some of the biggest takeaways from a weekend of racing.

Results: *Nuttycombe Invitational *Gans Creek Classic *Cowboy Jamboree *Chile Pepper

Oklahoma State may be even better than last year

The most impressive performance of the weekend undoubtedly belonged to reigning NCAA men’s champion Oklahoma State, who put on a show at the Cowboy Jamboree. The star was Kenyan Brian Musau, who became the first man to break 23 minutes on OSU’s home course, running 22:55.6 to smash Isai Rodriguez‘s 23:05.8 course record from 2021.

The current layout at OSU has only been around since 2019, and Saturday featured great conditions for running fast. Still, a bunch of very good runners have run the 8k at OSU — including Luis Grijalva, Conner Mantz, Charles Hicks, Abdihamid Nur, and Graham Blanks — and none of them had ever come close to sub-23:00. And if you have ever run on that course, you know it’s not flat. 22:55 is flying.

But if you’re not one to get caught up on times, consider who Musau beat. The runner-up was New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel (23:03.6), last year’s NCAA 10,000 champion and XC runner-up who has a 26:53 pb for 10,000. Samuel finished more than 15 seconds ahead of everyone else on Saturday but eight seconds behind Musau.

Musau was very good in 2023-24, finishing 8th at NCAA XC and 4th in the NCAA 5,000 (a step ahead of Blanks) in his first year in the NCAA. Based on Saturday’s performance, he looks to be even better in year 2 and should be a contender for the NCAA individual title this season.

The OK State men may have more to celebrate in 2024

Musau was not the only Cowboy to run well. Of OSU’s top seven finishers, five ran 20+ seconds faster than they did in the same race last season. Remember, this is a team that scored 49 points at NCAAs in 2023. Plus OSU added another stud in Laban Kipkemboi, who redshirted last fall but finished 3rd on Saturday, in between Musau and last year’s NCAA XC 4th-placer Denis Kipngetich. And Fouad Messaoudi, who was 10th at NCAA XC last year, is healthy but did not race last weekend (OSU coach Dave Smith told LetsRun that was by design — the superstitious Messaoudi didn’t run the Cowboy Jamboree in 2022 or 2023 and now believes skipping it is part of the reason for his success).

Conditions can vary year to year, but the fact that OSU smacked around a strong New Mexico team 19-45 (I had UNM #6 in the LRC preseason rankings) and put six men in front of the Lobos Evans Kiplagat (13:26/28:08/33rd at ’23 NCAA XC) shows that the Cowboys should be very, very good again in 2024.

Oklahoma State’s top 7 at the Cowboy Jamboree

*Competed unattached in 2024

The Cowboy Jamboree was also the official Oregon XC debut of Simeon Birnbaum. Birnbaum was the crown jewel of Oregon’s 2023 recruiting class, running 1:47 (800), 3:37 (1500), and 8:34 (2 miles) in high school, but he redshirted last fall and winter and was injured after one race in the spring. On Saturday, he finished as Oregon’s top man in 24:10.9 as the Ducks took third ahead of Texas. A solid run considering Birnbaum’s best event on the track has been the 1500. *Men’s results

On the women’s side, New Mexico’s Pamela Kosgei — younger sister of former marathon world record holder Brigid Kosgei and one of LRC’s favorites for the NCAA title this fall — impressed in her collegiate debut by running 19:50.0. Kosgei won the race by 43 seconds, though Katelyn Tuohy remains the 6k course record holder at OSU thanks to her 19:27.7 at the ’22 NCAA championships. And Kosgei led the 21st-ranked Lobos to an upset of #16 Oklahoma State, 34-40 *Women’s results

Iowa State has a new Kenyan star (no, not that one), and Big 12 XC is going to be ridiculous

Usually the Nuttycombe Invitational is the biggest meet of the regular season, held in the middle of October on the same weekend as Pre-Nats. But because Wisconsin is hosting nationals this year, Pre-Nats is in Madison on October 19, which means Nuttycombe was pushed forward to September 27. The Nuttycombe fields were not quite as deep this year, but they were still very strong, featuring 10 of the top 20 men’s teams and 9 of the top 20 women’s teams from the most recent coaches’ poll — though this did not include the #13 Wisconsin men, even though they were hosting the meet. Come on, Mick Byrne!

(Byrne explained his rationale to the Wisconsin athletics website: “I made the decision over a week ago just based on what I saw in practice. We’re pretty young and I think we’re pretty good. But I wanted to see a few more sessions before we go deep into, you know, a hard race like this…Some people, some coaches won’t be too happy with it. But that’s not their business. What we do, that’s for our team.”)

The men’s race at Nuttycombe was dominated by the Big 12, with BYU putting four men in the top nine to win with 44 points and Iowa State finishing 2nd with 108. BYU was 3rd at NCAAs last year despite missing Casey Clinger, a two-time top-10 NCAA finisher who was 5th in the Olympic Trials 10,000. Now Clinger is back, and he led the Cougars with a 4th-place finish at Nuttycombe. How deep is BYU? Their fifth man on Friday was James Corrigan (17th) — an Olympian in the steeplechase last summer.

BYU crushed Iowa State on the day, but there is plenty to be encouraged about for Cyclones fans. First and foremost is the performance of Kenyan freshman Robin Bera, who finished 5th in his collegiate debut. Bera ran without fear, opening up a six-second gap at 6k, and while he would ultimately get reeled in, he showed he has top-2o potential at NCAAs.

The other reason to be optimistic for Iowa State is that they were missing their top two runners — and potentially their top three. Sanele Masondo (16th ’23 NCAAs) was held out after tweaking his calf a couple of weeks ago and Rodgers Kiplimo (37th ’23 NCAAs) is working his way back from a stress fracture, but both will likely debut at Pre-Nats.

Plus Iowa State got an unexpected boost by adding another Kenyan, Joash Ruto, last week. Iowa State coach Jeremy Sudbury told me he had been pursuing Ruto, who has run 8:22 for the steeple at altitude and was the runner-up at this year’s African U20 XC champs, for some time but they had been unable to get Ruto’s American visa approved. The visa finally came through two weeks ago and Ruto arrived in Ames on September 24. Considering Iowa State’s fall semester began on August 26, Sudbury figured it would be too late to get him registered for classes and eligible to compete this season.

But then Sudbury thought of one of his college teammates from the 2010s at Oklahoma, Aaron Sherf, who had transferred in midway through the semester and been eligible by enrolling in a bunch of 8-week classes. Sudbury checked to see if there was a similar option available at Iowa State and found there was. Ruto could reach the required 12 credits through a combination of in-person and online courses that started midway through the semester (the first of which began on Monday).

The bottom line: Ruto is eligible to compete and Sudbury plans for him to run this fall. How good could he be? The usual caveats about adjusting to a new country and culture apply, but Sudbury said that Bera and Ruto used to train together in Kenya and Bera told him that Ruto would crush him in workouts.

Mark your calendars for the Big 12 championships on November 1 in Waco. Between Oklahoma State, BYU, and Iowa State, it’s possible the three best men’s teams in the country all reside in the Big 12 (though Arkansas might argue with that).

MB: Iowa St adds an 8:22 steepler Joash Ruto. Does this make them a threat for NCAA XC team title?
*Nuttycombe Results

A resurgent Stanford sweeps the Gans Creek Classic

I thought long and hard about putting Stanford in LetsRun’s preseason top 10 but ultimately decided against it. The Cardinal were 8th last year but were losing their top man in Ky Robinson and I had questions about the rest of the roster. Cole Sprout was 15th at NCAA XC back in March 2021. Since then, however, he had been snakebitten at NCAAs and not finished higher than 81st. Robert DiDonato was 49th at NCAA XC last fall but failed to break 14:00 last year on the track. And the Young brothers did not make the instant impact that many expected as true freshmen. Leo, who was 16th at World U20 XC, was just 185th at NCAAs last fall, while Lex, who ran 13:34 in high school, was 74th. Would they be able to make a leap to the All-American level this fall?

Well, Stanford passed its first test last weekend with flying colors. Granted, the field at the Gans Creek Classic was not particularly strong — #28 Ole Miss was the only other ranked team in the field — but Stanford flashed its potential by putting four men in the top eight and winning handily with 31 points (Tennessee was 2nd with 163). Sprout and the Young brothers were up front throughout, with Leo making a big move for the win in the final 400, but finishing second behind Edward Bird of Kentucky. Leo (2nd, 23:08.9), Sprout (23:10.0), and Lex (5th, 23:11.2), were separated by just 2.3 seconds.

Leo Young was the US U20 XC champ in 2023 (Kevin Morris photo)

DiDonato (85th) struggled, but Thomas Boyden was 8th in 23:20.2, only nine seconds back of Lex Young, and Stanford got impressive runs from a trio of true freshmen: Paul Bergeron (13th, 23:28; 8:39 HS 2-mile), Patrick Koon (17th, 23:34.2; 8:34 HS 2-mile), and Brit James Dargan (18th, 23:36; 14:03 HS 5k).

It’s still early days — we’ll get a much better idea of where Stanford stands at Pre-Nats in three weeks — but this was a good start to the season for the Cardinal men.

The Stanford women scored more points (44) but also won handily and did so against a stronger field that included Tennessee (2nd with 91 points), ranked #8 in the coaches’ poll. 2019 Foot Locker champ Zofia Dudek (2nd, 19:53.6) and Sophia Kennedy (3rd, 19:55.6), daughter of former American 5,000 record holder Bob, were the standouts for Stanford, who put four women in the top 10.

MB: Impressed by Lex and Leo Young
*Gains Creek Results

Parker Wolfe wins Nuttycombe while new names emerge

The pre-race favorite in the men’s race at Nuttycombe was North Carolina’s Parker Wolfe, last year’s NCAA 5,000m champion who finished 3rd in that event at the US Olympic Trials. Wolfe was as good as advertised, running a patient race before accelerating away in the final kilometer to win in 23:04 for the 8k course. That’s the fastest time on the Zimmer course since Lawi Lalang ran 23:02 back in 2012, but the course was lengthened in 2018. Wolfe’s time was the record for the new course, which was previously held by Stanford’s Ky Robinson (23:09 from 2022).

Just behind Wolfe was Wake Forest’s Rocky Hansen in 23:06, who showed he is all the way back after a foot injury derailed his 2023 cross country season. Hansen was 6th at Nuttycombe as a freshman last year and showed he will be a force to reckoned with once again this fall.

The women’s winner was a much bigger surprise: Canadian Sadie Sigfstead of Villanova. Sigfstead won the Mid-Atlantic regional last fall and was 12th in the 10,000 at NCAAs in June, but this was a breakout performance for her as Sigfstead has never finished higher than 71st at NCAA XC.

Even though last spring was the first time Sigfstead qualified for NCAAs on the track, she came away from the race frustrated with her performance and asked her coach Gina Procaccio if she could do more volume. Procaccio was hesitant. She knew Sigfstead was talented but did not think she was ready to handle more.

“If you’re tired all the time, my solution isn’t to do more,” Procaccio told LetsRun.com.

But over the summer back home in Alberta, Sigfstead figured out what she needed to do to become stronger. When she returned to campus in the fall, Procaccio said, it was as if she was a different runner. Her mileage is higher now (around 70 a week compared to 55-60 last year), but, just as importantly, she’s recovering better.

“I tell them, it’s the 22 hours you spend away from me that determines how successful you’re going to be,” Procaccio said. “She got really serious about her diet, her sleep, her hydration, all the little things that she can take care of to be the best possible athlete she can be. And by taking care of herself and doing that, especially sleep, she’s going to be able to handle more, she’s going to be able to recover more from workouts.”

The last Villanova woman to win an NCAA XC title was another Canadian, Sheila Reid, in 2011. It would take a lot for Sigfstead to replicate that feat, but Procaccio says she compares favorably.

“I’ve coached other NCAA champions in cross country before and the stuff she’s doing in practice, I haven’t seen before,” Procaccio said. “I know the NCAA landscape has changed a bit, but she looks like she could be one of the best.”

One notable name missing from Nuttycombe was Georgetown’s Chloe Scrimgeour, the top American returner from NCAA XC last year. Hoyas coach Mitchell Baker told LetsRun she is still building up after running in the Olympic Trials in late June and is planning on debuting at the Princeton Fall Classic on October 18.

Another winner on Friday that you may not have heard of was Kentucky’s Ed Bird, who beat out Leo Young to win the men’s individual title at Gans Creek Classic in Missouri in 23:07.6 (Gans Creek runs a bit faster than the Wisconsin course). Bird, a 19-year-old sophomore from England, was 30th at SECs last year but just 107th at the Southeast Regional, and UK coach Hakon DeVries admitted he may have rushed him into cross country considering Bird raced throughout the summer of 2023.

Bird raced in the summer of 2024 as well, and it went very well — he earned bronze in the 3,000 at the World U20 championships on August 29. He has not taken a break since then (DeVries said Bird kept his mileage fairly high this summer while sprinkling in some track workouts) and DeVries feels Bird is better prepared now for his second year at Kentucky.

“This year he just has a better understanding about what’s ahead of him in the NCAA season,” DeVries said. “He’s learned how to train as well as be a student, all those things that any normal kid has to do when they transition.”

Bird, who is not related to British steeple record holder Lizzie Bird, wound up at Kentucky in a very 2020s way. DeVries first made contact with him by sliding into Bird’s Instagram DMs after he earned bronze at the European U18 championships in 2022.

“He liked what UK had to offer for facilities and support and different things like that,” DeVries said. “He and I just formed a good connection.”

(This is our recap of last week’s NCAA action. For the recap of the pro action, check out our Week That Was column: LRC WTW: Berlin Marathon Breakdown + Boulder Has A New Big Race)