Parker Wolfe, a D3 Guy, Sadie Sigfstead, Brigid Kosgei’s Sister: Who was the NCAA Cross Country Runner of the Week?

October is here and that means NCAA cross country is heating up. After getting through the first few early season meets where coaches hold out their top talent most teams have had their first big invite racing their full squad.

This past weekend we had a few standout performers (analysis here) and we let you pick the NCAA XC runner of the week.

This week’s candidates are highlighted by some established names for the men and several international rising stars for the women.

Our runners of the NCAA “preseason” were Evans Kurui of Washington State who destroyed Edward Cheserek’s course record by 20 seconds in a 55 second victory at the WSU Cougar Classic running 22:46 and Doris Lemngole of Alabama who won the Southern Showcase in 16:03. Preseason winners here.

Men’s Early Season Candidates 

Nathan Tassey – Roger Williams

Our first DIII runner to get nominated gets the nod for a big win at John McNichols (which served as a de facto pre-nats race for DIII). The Whitman, MA junior ran 23:57 in the fog to dominate a field filled with All-Americans and win by over 15 seconds. Tassey has absolutely exploded in college after being a heavily under recruited high school prospect, only running 16:14, 10:02 and 4:45. Tassey was an All-American both in cross country and outdoor track last year. He won coaches association D3 athlete of the week and was also his conference athlete of the week.

John McNichols Invite

Parker Wolfe – North Carolina 

Photo courtesy James B Daves/NCAA

The Colorado bred UNC star won the premier race of the weekend, the Nuttycombe Invitational in 23:04. Maybe it is just a coincidence that he came on the LetsRun.com podcast just a week prior, but who is there to really say. The time was a new course record, beating Ky Robinson’s time from 2022 by five seconds. Wolfe took down numerous All-American’s in the process and looks primed to be an individual contender come late November. Wolfe was ACC and coaches association national athlete of the week.

Nuttycombe Invitational

Brian Musau – Oklahoma State

Photo courtesy NCAA/James B Daves

The sophomore out of Kenya defended his home turf at the Cowboy Jamboree coming home with the win in 22:55. He was able to pull away from the talented Habtom Samuel, the reigning 10k champ on the track and last years second place finisher in cross country, to win by eight seconds. He led his team to a meet win and dominated the course record in the process. Musau will likely be another individual contender and finish higher than his eighth place finish from last year.

Cowboy Jamboree 

Women’s Early Season Candidates 

Judy Kosgei – Clemson

The sophomore out of Baringo, Kenya won the Adidas XC Challenge in a blazing quick 16:11 for 5k to win by six seconds. She was able to beat a number of talented women including the entire NC State squad and her own teammates, including Gladys Chepngetich, who was 23rd at nationals last year. She was named both coaches association national athlete of the week and ACC athlete of the week for her effort.

Sadie Sigfstead – Villanova

photo from Villanova.com

Sigfstead a senior from Canada jumped onto the scene with a massive win at Nuttycombe, running 19:55 for 6k to win by eight seconds over an absolutely loaded field. Previously Sigfstead had operated at a high level but nothing close to this. She was 71st last year at nationals but showed signs of a jump last year when she was 12th in the 10k on the track. She won Big East and coaches association national athlete of the week. More details on her rise here.

Nuttycombe Invitational

Judy Chepkoech – Arizona State

The freshmen from Kenya demolished the field at the UC Riverside Invitational running 19:31 for 6k to win by a ridiculous 25 seconds over the rest of the field. Chepkoech is looking to make an immediate impact on the NCAA after making world u20 cross last year, and finishing third at the Kenyan championships in the steeple. She sports a 15:21 5k PB that will likely make her an immediate All-American contender. She won her second Big 12 athlete of the week award for her race.

Pamela Kosgei – New Mexico

The Kenyan steeplechase champion made quite the bang in her first NCAA race. The talented freshmen absolutely dominated the field at the Cowboy Jamboree running 19:50 to win by over 40 seconds. She was able to lead her New Mexico Lobos to an upset victory over the Oklahoma State Cowgirls on their own course. Kosgei looks to be a high value piece both on the grass and on the track as she won bronze at world junior xc and has a steeple pr of 9:35, which was run at 5,000 ft. She is the sister of former marathon world record holder Brigid Kosgei.

Previous Winners Men

Preseason – Evans Kurui – Washington State

Previous Winners Women

Preseason – Doris Lemngole – Alabama