Cross Country Teams Head to NCAA Midwest Regional

AMES, Iowa – The next stop of Championship Season for Iowa State's cross country squads comes on Friday at the 2021 NCAA Cross Country Championships Midwest Regional, hosted by the University of Iowa at the Ashton Cross Country Course. The women's 6,000m race will begin at 11 a.m., while the men's 10,000m goes off at noon.

The top two teams will automatically advance to the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 20 in Tallahassee, Florida. Non-advancing teams will be eligible for at-large bids to the Championships, to-be announced on Saturday at 4 p.m. on NCAA.com. Once the at-large bids are announced, the top-four individuals among the non-advancing teams will also go to the NCAA Championships.

In addition to determining NCAA XC Championships bids, the Regional Championships will serve as the cross country meeting for the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series, with two points per gender going to the higher finishing team between the Cyclones and Hawkeyes.

A free live stream will be provided on Big Ten Network+, here. Live results for the meet will be provided by Wayzata Timing, here.

Men's Preview
The No. 4 Iowa State men's team will be in search of their sixth-straight trip to the NCAA Cross Country Championships as a team, finishing in the top-10 each of the past four seasons. The Cyclones were second at the Big 12 Championships two weeks ago, with hosts Oklahoma State coming away winners. Iowa State had seven men earn All-Big 12 honors, the third-straight season the Cyclones had that many All-Big 12 honorees on the men's side.

Wesley Kiptoo picked up yet another win at the Big 12 Championships, finishing 23.8 seconds ahead of his closest competitor, who he will see again in Isai Rodriguez of No. 3 Oklahoma State. No. 10 Tulsa, the last Regional champions in 2019, and No. 23 Minnesota are also among the ranked teams that will be in action in Iowa City.

Women's Preview
The No. 13 Iowa State women have been on a roll this season, moving up in the national rankings each week, including moving up four spots in the most recent poll after nearly taking down hosts Oklahoma State at the Big 12 Championships, missing out on the title by one point.

There will be an intriguing team race with No. 5 Minnesota, No. 6 Oklahoma State and No. 13 Iowa State all battling it out for the top-two spots and the automatic qualifying spots. The three teams previously met at the Nuttycombe Invitational last month, Minnesota was fourth, Oklahoma State fifth and Iowa State ninth.

The individual race features many stars, with Iowa State's Cailie Logue among the favorites and the two-time defending Regional champion, taking the crown in 2018 and 2019 (there were no regional championships in 2020-21). She will have plenty of competition for the individual crown in the form of the Hasz sisters, Bethany and Megan and Abby Kohut-Jackson of Minnesota and Molly Born and Taylor Roe of Oklahoma.

The Iowa State women showed their strength in depth at the conference championships, with six Cyclones earning All-Big 12 honors. Amy Rudolph's team will be looking to go to the NCAA Championships for the 12th time in the past 13 years.

Cross Country Teams Head to NCAA Midwest Regional

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Cross Country Teams Head to NCAA Midwest Regional

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