OSU men secure 4th consecutive Big 12 title; OU men 8th, women 12th

AMES, Iowa — The Oklahoma State men’s and women’s cross country competed Saturday at the Big 12 Cross Country Championships in Ames, Iowa, with the Cowboys taking home their fourth consecutive conference crown.

OSU athletes Brian Musau and Taylor Roe each collected individual conference titles on the grass, giving OSU its first individual sweep in program as the pair put on a dominant display in the cold conditions.

The OSU men dominated the field with an individual and team championship for the eighth time in program history. This is the fourth consecutive Big 12 team title and the staggering 13th championship in the last 16 years, all under coach Dave Smith.

The Cowboys cleared No. 3 Brigham Young University by 30 points overall, with the OSU men scoring just 25 points on the day. Musau, a freshman collected his first Big 12 title, becoming first freshman to win the Big 12 men’s title since former Cowboy German Fernandez did so in 2008. In just his second career race for the Cowboys, Musau broke the Iowa State Cross Country Course record with his winning time of 22:46.6. His time was also the fastest cross country 8K in school history, surpassing Isai Rodriguez’ time of 22:49.3 at the Big 12 Championships in 2020.

Immediately behind Musau was defending Big 12 champion Alex Maier. In his first action of the season, Maier clocked a time of 22:49.1 to give the Cowboys a 1-2 finish on the men’s side. Overall, six Cowboys earned All-Big 12 honors, which are awarded to athletes who place in the top-15 in the conference. Fouad Messaoudi, Will Muirhead, Jonas Price and Cowboy Jamboree winner Denis Kipngetich were each named to the All-Big 12 team with finishes of fifth, eighth, ninth and 14th, respectively.

On the women’s side, Roe took home her first career Big 12 championship on the grass after coming so close several times in her career, with finishes of second, third and second the past three season at the conference meet. Roe took control of the race from the beginning, separating herself over the last 1,000 meters to defeat teammate Billah Jepkirui for the title.

Roe is the first Cowgirl to win the Big 12 title in cross country in the 28-year history of the conference and first conference individual champion on the grass since Heather Garrett took gold at the 1989 Big 8 Championships, also in Ames. Her time of 19:35.4 is the second-fastest cross country 6K in program history, only being bested by her time from the 2021 NCAA Cross country Championships of 19:33.5.

Behind Roe was Jepkirui in second, who earned her best finish at the Big 12 championships after collecting a third-place finish in 2022. In just her second race of the season, Jepkirui followed up her Cowboy Jamboree victory with an impressive performance to give both the Cowboys and Cowgirls 1-2 finishes individually.

Overall, the OSU women fell just short of their third straight conference title, coming up four points behind No. 4 BYU.

Molly Born, Gabija Galvydyte and Payton Hinkle rounded out the scoring for the Cowgirls, with finishes of fifth, 15th and 16th, respectively. Born earned her third career top-5 finish at the Big 12 Championships, joining her fourth-place finish in 2021 and third-place finish in 2019. Roe, Jepkirui, Born and Galvydyte were all awarded All-Big 12 honors for their performances.

As for Oklahoma, the men’s squad registered eighth place in the 8K with a team score of 229. The women’s squad placed 12th in the 6K with a team score of 345 points.

Redshirt senior Nicholas Young secured the men’s squad’s top finish, grabbing 41st place with a time of 24:14.9. At 42nd place, junior Colin Caso registered a time of 24:17.5.

Sophomore Erin O’Brien earned the women’s top performance placing 53rd, clocking in at 21:32.1. Junior Gabi Barrera followed at 59th place, with a time of 21:40.9.

The OU and OSU runners will return to action in Stillwater for the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship at the Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course on Nov. 10.