NCAA XC Conference Roundup: #2 BYU Takes Down #1 Ok. State, Oregon Women Make a Statement, Legend of “Big Ten Bob” Lives On

Big 12s

*Results

The race between #1 Oklahoma State and #2 BYU lived up to the hype and we cannot wait for the rematch at NCAAs

Today’s Big 12 meet was one of the most loaded conference meets in NCAA history as it pitted three of the top four teams in the most recent coaches’ poll: #1 Oklahoma State, #2 BYU, and #4 Iowa State. Both Ok. State and BYU had rolled through the regular season to this point, but it was the #2 Cougars that pulled the upset on the #1 Cowboys to win their first Big 12 title, 41-52, with Iowa State (62) not far behind.

The race itself was about as dramatic as a conference cross country meet can be. Both Ok. State and BYU made their presences felt at the front of the pack early, but at 5.9k, the Cowboys held a clear lead, 35-52, with Brian Musau and Laban Kipkemboi running 1-2. By 7k, Ok. State still led, but it was much closer, 41-48. And while BYU continued to pick up steam to the finish, the wheels came off for Ok. State as they dropped 11 points over the final kilometer to fade to 2nd.

BYU coach Ed Eyestone and his team celebrates the win at Big 12s

Coming into the season, many viewed the Ok. State men as untouchable – after all, this was a team that brought back 6/7 runners from a team that dominated the NCAA meet a year ago. Today, Ok. State scored more points at Big 12s (52) than they did at NCAAs in 2023 (49). What happened?

BYU ran incredibly well, with eighth-year senior Casey Clinger (3rd) leading the way and all five of their scorers finishing in the top 12. Ok. State, meanwhile, had two big issues. First, Fouad Messaoudi (12th and 10th at the last two NCAA XC champs) had an awful race and finished 32nd. Second, Laban Kipkemboi lost 12 places over the final kilometer. If he just held his place from 7k, Ok. State would have won today.

This is Kipkemboi’s first season of college XC and he looked like a rookie today as he ran a bit too aggressively and made a wrong turn while leading that cost him or second or two. Considering he mostly runs the mile/3k on the track, there should be some concern about him stepping up to the 10k distance at the NCAA championships.

In terms of creating excitement for NCAAs, today’s result was the best possible outcome. If Ok. State had stomped BYU, everyone would have expected them to do the same at NCAAs. That could still happen, but now we know that Ok. State can be beaten. If Ok. State and BYU are both firing on all cylinders in Madison three weeks from now, we are going to have a heck of a race at NCAAs.

OK State’s Brian Musau continues to build his case as an NCAA title contender

Musau repeated as individual Big 12 champ and will head to NCAAs as one of the favorites for the individual title. Musau put together an impressive rookie year in 2023-24, finishing 8th at NCAAs in XC, 6th in the 3k indoors, and 4th in the 5k outdoors. Today, he beat Clinger (5th in the Olympic Trials 10k) and Texas Tech stud Solomon Kipchoge (59:37 half marathon pb), and back in September, he beat New Mexico star Habtom Samuel by eight seconds at the Cowboy Jamboree. Samuel went on to win Pre-Nats three weeks later. Musau has only lost one race this fall, and that was at the Weis-Crockett Invitational on Ok. State’s home course in October, where he finished 12th after being tasked with pacing some teammates to sub-25:00.

ACCs

*Results

Wake Forest wins second men’s title in three years thanks to clutch run from true freshman JoJo Jourdon

The Big 12 meet may have had three of the top four men’s teams, but the ACC may win the argument for deepest conference meet as it featured six of the top 16 men’s teams in the latest coaches’ poll. #5 Stanford, racing in the ACC for the first time, entered as the highest-ranked among them, but the Cardinal had to settle for second as #7 Wake Forest ran an exceptional race to take the win with 60 points to 69 for Stanford and 80 for #13 North Carolina.

And for the second straight meet, Wake Forest won without a contribution from its best runner, Rocky Hansen. Hansen, who was 2nd at the Nuttycombe Invitational earlier this season and was a guest on this week’s LetsRun.com Track Talk podcast, missed the Panorama Farms Invitational on October 19 due to illness but Wake Forest still won that one. Hansen ran today and finished as Wake’s sixth man in 32nd place, but the Demon Deacons won anyway.

The hero for Wake was true freshman JoJo Jourdon, the 2023 NXN champion who finished as their #2 man in 8th place in his collegiate debut. Wake should be very, very good for the next few years. Of their 10 runners who ran ACCs on Friday, nine are either freshmen or sophomores.

UVA’s Gary Martin shows impressive range to win the individual title; Parker Wolfe 3rd in his return

Speaking of former LRC podcast guests, Virginia’s Gary Martin continued his fine 2024 cross country campaign by winning the ACC individual title. Martin, who has 1:47/3:37 pbs on the track, has been known as a miler on the track but Vin Lananna told us at the end of his freshman year Martin would make a great 5000 guy (and he does have a 13:31 pb) and he showed that today. Though Martin did finish 8th at ACCs last year in XC, his two appearances at NCAA XC have not gone well (163rd in 2022, 219th in 2023). But this fall, he has won the Panorama Farms Invitational and today he beat a strong field to win ACCs. Martin made NCAAs in the 1500 last year, but long-term his best distance may be the 5k.

NCAA 5000 champion Parker Wolfe finished 3rd today after not racing with the rest of the team at Princeton two weeks ago. Wolfe won the Nuttycombe Invitational in September, but he developed a foot injury after the race. UNC coach Chris Miltenberg told LetsRun.com he was leaning towards shutting Wolfe’s season down, but Wolfe was committed to finishing the season with his teammates. Wolfe actually flew back home to Colorado to receive treatment from his father, a physical therapist, who was able to realign a bone in his foot and allow Wolfe to resume training. Now he’s back, but his shot at winning the NCAA title took a major hit as he missed three critical weeks of training because of the injury.

Notre Dame women ends NC State’s title streak at eight

Usually if you score 115 points at a conference meet, you’re looking at a 3rd or 4th-place finish. But that was enough for the Notre Dame women to win the ACC title on Friday, the product of a deep field (eight ranked teams) and a super-sized conference (18 teams). #5 Notre Dame was the highest-ranked team in the field, but faced a challenge from #15 Stanford (2nd, 121 points) and #19 UNC (3rd, 121 points). Three-time defending NCAA champions NC State were looking for a ninth straight ACC title but could only manage 5th on their home course despite a 1-3 finish up front from Grace Hartman and Hannah Gapes.

Big 10

*Results

#17 Oregon women make a statement, CRUSH #2 Washington

The #17 Oregon women had raced a few times this season but held out multiple key runners each time. Today, we finally got to see a full-strength Ducks squad, and it looked like one of the best teams in the country. South Carolina transfer Silan Ayyildiz and Polish Olympian Klaudia Kazimierska, who ran sub-4:00 in the 1500 last summer, both raced for the first time this fall and looked great. The Ducks went 1-2 up front with Ayyildiz winning the individual title ahead of teammate Maddy Elmore, while Kazimierska finished as UO’s #4 in 11th place. Oregon went 1-2-10-11-12 to score 33 points and crush a good Washington team, which entered the day ranked #2 in the country.

Washington earned that ranking by winning the Nuttycombe Invitational and finishing 2nd at Pre-Nats. The fact that Oregon spanked them today at Big 10s, 33-60, means Oregon must be taken seriously as a national title contender in a year in which no women’s team has separated themselves from the pack.

Your 2024 #B1GXC Women’s Champion is Silan Ayyildiz!@OregonTF goes 1-2!

📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/TwfzS9KQK2

— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) November 1, 2024

Big Ten Bob strikes again

Wisconsin’s Bob Liking has earned the nickname “Big Ten Bob” for his incredible performances at the Big 10 XC meet, winning the individual titles in 2021, 2022, and 2023. On Friday, he had the opportunity to join distance legends Craig Virgin (Illinois), Bob Kennedy (Indiana), and Kevin Sullivan (Michigan) as the only men to win four individual Big 10 XC titles.

Did he do it?

Of course he did. Big Ten Bob reigns again.

Liking broke away after 5k to win by eight seconds in 22:47 and lead the Wisconsin men to their seventh straight Big 10 XC title. While winning four Big 10 XC titles is impressive any way you slice it, we should note that Liking had one extra opportunity to do it – as a true freshman, he was 12th at the Big 10 XC champs held in January 2021, but that year did not count against his eligibility clock due to COVID.

The question now is whether Liking and the Badgers can translate their conference dominance to national success when NCAAs is held on their home course on November 23. Despite his Big 10 success, Liking has only finished 66th, 34th, and 83rd in three appearances at NCAA XC.

Bob Liking has his FOURTH #B1GXC Men’s Championship… AND a championship-record time!

📺: @BigTenNetwork x @BadgerTrackXC pic.twitter.com/9mD8VCFHsG

— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) November 1, 2024

Quick Takes from the other conferences by Jonathan Gault & Joseph Carroll

• The biggest individual battle of the day came in the women’s race at SECs. In that race, 2023 NCAA runner-up Doris Lemngole of Alabama took down her former teammate, 2023 NCAA 4th placer Hilda Olemomoi of Florida, to win the SEC title, 18:20 to 18:25. Patrick Kiprop of Arkansas won the men’s race in a blazing quick 21:57 to lead the #3 Razorbacks over #11 Alabama.
• The closest major race was at the Big East champs, where the #9 Georgetown women beat #12 Providence, 42-43. Providence put four in the top 10 but Georgetown had eight women in before Providence’s #5. Those two displacements (Georgetown’s #8 runner did not count in the team score) were the difference between a conference title and second place. A reminder that even #6 and #7 runners can make a difference in cross country! Providence star Kimberley May, who was expected to be an individual title contender had an off day finishing in 6th for the Friars. The men’s race was close as well with #17 Villanova scoring a tight 35-41 victory over #27 Butler. The Wildcats pushed the pace early as Liam Murphy and Marco Langon broke away en route to putting three in the top four. 
• The #3 NAU women swept the top six places en route to a perfect score of 15 at the Big Sky champs. But the big news was that Elise Stearns made her season debut for the Lumberjacks, finishing 2nd overall. Stearns finished 4th and 20th at the last two NCAA XC champs and having her back in the lineup is a big boost for NAU’s title chances this year. The men’s title was won by David Mullarkey of NAU, who helped the Lumberjacks score 25 points to take down Montana State to win the team title.
• If you want a lesson on how to dominate a conference meet, look no further than New Mexico in the Mountain West. The Lobos, who are ranked #6 on the men’s side went 1-2-3-4-5 to score a perfect 15 points to take down the field, while the women also impressed, scoring 32 points to sweep the team titles. They were led by national title contenders Habtom Samuel and Pamela Kosgei, who both scored dominant victories, winning by 20 and 47 seconds, respectively.

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