Kurgat Win Leads No. 6 ISU at Nuttycombe Invite

MADISON, Wisconsin – Edwin Kurgat ran to a commanding victory against an elite field at the Nuttycombe Invitational on Friday afternoon at the University of Wisconsin. Kurgat's victory helped lead the No. 6 Cyclones to a fourth-place finish in the team competition.

At the site of his third place finish at the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships, the defending Big 12 and Midwest Region champion made a convincing case for his 2019 credentials, with a huge second-half effort to win the 8K competition in 23:29.4, almost 10 seconds ahead of his closest competitor.

The Cyclones took their time getting into the groove of the race, as the Cyclones were 11th as a team at the 2K checkpoint. Iowa State showed that they were meaning business at the halfway point, moving up to fifth in the team standings and having all its runners within 7.5 seconds of the leaders.

Kurgat was 12th at the halfway mark and took over from there, surging into the lead and away from the field. He was 1.8 seconds ahead at the 6,000 meter checkpoint and continued to press the accelerator from there to comfortably take the team title.

Addision Dehaven was next in for the Cyclones in 33rd place in 24:06.1, and in his ISU cross country debut, David Too crossed the line in 38th in 24:09.4. Mitchell Day was in 173rd place at the 2K checkpoint, but was able to work his way back into the front of the pack and finish 42nd in 24:13.4. Milo Greder rounded out the scoring team in 66th at 24:24.5, with Thomas Pollard just behind in 72nd in 24:27.0.

Iowa State will now focus on preparations for the 2019 Big 12 Cross Country Championships, hosted by Baylor. Competition will take place on Saturday, Nov. 2.

Individual Results
1. Edwin Kurgat, Iowa State – 23:29.4
33. Addison Dehaven, Iowa State – 24:06.1
38. David Too, Iowa State – 24:09.4
42. Mitchell Day, Iowa State – 24:13.4
66. Milo Greder, Iowa State – 24:24.5
72. Thomas Pollard, Iowa State – 24:27.0
95. Chad Johnson, Iowa State – 24:35.7

Team Standings
1. Northern Arizona, 59
2. Stanford, 133
3. Tulsa, 175
4. Iowa State, 180
5. UCLA, 219

'B' Race Results
38. John Nownes, Unattached – 25:17.4
42. Matthew Meinke, Unattached – 25:22.3
65. Jeffery Pedersen, Iowa State – 25:43.6
82. Jared Schuckman, Iowa State – 26:05.0

Players Mentioned

Mitchell Day

Addison Dehaven

Milo Greder

Chad Johnson

Edwin Kurgat

Matthew Meinke

John Nownes

Jeffery Pedersen

Thomas Pollard

Jared Schuckman

David Too

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics