Kiptoo Earns Big 12 Runner Of The Week Honors

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State's Wesley Kiptoo was named the Big 12 Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday. Kiptoo earned the honor following a dominant showing at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Friday.

Kiptoo led wire-to-wire to claim the Nuttycombe title in an 8K time of 23:11.2, the second-fastest time in Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course history. The Marakwet, Kenya native took care of business against a strong field that included many All-Americans, with second-place finisher Cooper Teare of Oregon, the NCAA Outdoor 5,000m champion, just under 10 seconds back.

Along with the individual crown, Kiptoo's performance helped the ISU men's cross country squad to a victory in the men's team competition, taking down a field which included 17 ranked foes, which among them No. 3 Stanford. Following the race the Cyclones jumped from No. 6 nationally to No. 2 in the USTFCCCA rankings.

It is Kiptoo's fourth Big 12 Cross Country Runner of the Week honor in his Cyclone career.

Kiptoo and the Cyclones will now get ready for championship season, starting with the Big 12 Cross Country Championship hosted by Oklahoma State on Friday, Oct. 29.