ISU Makes History at Big 12 Meet

LUBBOCK, Texas ? Iowa State's cross country squads met high expectations with history-making performances on Friday, at the Big 12 Cross Country Championships in Lubbock, Texas. Lisa Koll captured the highest women's Big 12 conference placing ever and the men obtained their first top-five finish in ten years.

Koll secured her spot in the record books, crossing the line in third place overall with a time of 20:11.15 in the 6,000-meter race. Kelly Brinkman held the previous top finish for ISU, placing fourth in 2000.

"lisa had a great day, she went after it and executed well," cross country head coach Corey Ihmels said. "Today she ran against top-notch, fast company, but she ran with great poise and had a great race."

Vanguard (Calif.) transfer Grace Kemmey clocked a 20:32.25 for fifth place overall. Koll and Kemmey are the first pair of Cyclones to earn top-five finishes in the same year at the Big 12 meet.

The Cyclone women totaled 175 points, good enough for seventh in the league. The women have not placed that high since the 2000 conference meet, where they finished sixth.

ISU men's squad started the historical day, earning fourth place with 139 points, the men's highest finish in the conference meet since 1997. Six ISU runners placed in the top-50 overall, during the 8,000-meter race.

"Each program made progress today," Ihmels said. "The men had an ok day, but we didn't perform our best. We finished fourth in the conference, but that just shows how great of a team we can be."

Freshman Hillary Bor continued his stellar rookie season, crossing the finish line first for ISU. The Kenya native earned 19th overall. Junior Kiel Uhl finished 26th, followed closely by fellow junior Kevin Born at 27th. Senior Jayden Russ, sophomore Guor Majak and freshman Ben Murphy-Baum placed 33rd, 34th and 49th respectively.

"Hillary is a true freshman and today he ran with the big guns and performed well," Ihmels said.

Colorado took the team titles in both the men's and women's races for the eighth consecutive season. Sally Kipyego of Texas Tech won the women's title for the second straight year. Brent Vaughn of Colorado captured the men's victory.

The Cyclones will now head to Peoria, Ill., for the NCAA Midwest Regional on Nov. 10. The event is scheduled for 11 a.m. CST.

Men's Results

1, Brent Vaughn, Colorado, 24:22.30; 19, Hillary Bor, Iowa State, 25:22.59; 26, Kiel Uhl, Iowa State, 25:36.24.

Women's Results

1, Sally Kipyego, Texas Tech, 19:22.50; 3, Lisa Koll, Iowa State, 20:11.15, 5, Grace Kemmey, Iowa State, 20:32.25

Iowa State Men's Results

19, Hillary Bor, 25:22.59

26, Kiel Uhl, 25:36.24

27, Kevin Born, 25:36.64

33, Jayden Russ, 25:54.89

34, Guor Majak, 25:56.24

49, Ben Murphy-Baum, 26:25.29

53, Richard Newton, 26:32.29

58, Brandon Rooney, 26:35.44

70, Johnny Reel, 26:55.34

Men's Top Five

1, Colorado, 34

2, Oklahoma State, 48

3, Texas, 58

4, Iowa State, 139

5, Texas A&M, 166

6, Missouri, 195

7, Kansas, 198

8, Texas Tech, 204

9, Oklahoma, 205

10, Nebraska, 230

11, Kansas State, 318

12, Baylor, 345

Iowa State Women's Results

3, Lisa Koll, 20:11.15

5, Grace Kemmey, 20:32.25

44, Dawn Caffrey, 22:16.15

56, Stacey Thiel, 22:46.30

67, Paige Ties, 23:00.95

68, Ines Fischer, 23:02.45

80, Dana Peters, 23:39.60

88, Brittany Rover, 23:48.40

89, Erin Penticoff, 23:52.85

Women's Top Five

1, Colorado, 59

2, Texas Tech, 83

3, Nebraska, 98

4, Baylor, 155

5, Oklahoma State, 156

6, Oklahoma, 170

7, Iowa State, 175

8, Texas A&M, 176

9, Texas, 177

10, Missouri, 193

11, Kansas, 254

12, Kansas State, 257

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Players Mentioned

Hillary Bor

Dawn Caffrey

Dawn Caffrey

Ines Fischer

Lisa Koll

Lisa Koll

Ben Murphy-Baum

Ben Murphy-Baum

Richard Newton

Richard Newton

Erin Penticoff

Erin Penticoff

Dana Peters

Dana Peters

Johnny Reel

Johnny Reel

Brandon Rooney

Brandon Rooney

Brittany Rover

Brittany Rover

Jayden Russ

Jayden Russ

Stacey Thiel

Paige Ties

Paige Ties

Kiel Uhl

Kiel Uhl

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