No. 27 Cyclone Men Third at NCAA XC Midwest Regional

COLUMBIA, Missouri – No. 27 Iowa State put up a big fight to get an automatic qualifying spot to the NCAA Cross Country Championships Friday afternoon at the NCAA Cross Country Championships Midwest Regional at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.

Up against two of the top-six teams in the country, the Cyclones battled hard but came up a few places short, finishing third with 73 points, with No. 4 Oklahoma State and No. 6 Tulsa taking the auto-qualifying slots at 49 points each.

Should the Cyclones not earn a bid to Stillwater and next week's NCAA Cross Country Championships as a team, they are at least guaranteed to have a pair of individual representatives in Gable Sieperda and Titus Winders. Sieperda battled in the lead pack in the final portions of the race to eventually finish eighth in 29:43.8, while Winders came home with a big finish to take 10th in 29:47.8.

The duo was joined on the All-Region podium by Ezekiel Rop in 14th (29:54.1) and Chad Johnson in 15th (29:56.2).

Iowa State ran as a pack early on as the race settled in and began working their way up the field, going from ninth in team standings after 1,000m up to third at the 7,000m mark with their top-six all in the top-31. The eighth 1,000m of the race saw the Cyclones make a big move up the standings, with the Cyclones putting five into the top 25 to get down to 87 team points.

Rop made a move for the individual title with Loyola's Ryan Martins, as those two became the top-two heading into the final mile of the race. Though Rop was not able to keep with the top of the group, Sieperda was able to stick around and Winders was able to make a big final push in the last meters to get across the line in their respective positions.

ISU's fifth across the line was Kelvin Bungei in 26th in 30:09.4, just missing out on the All-Region podium. Timothy Sindt came back after missing the Big 12 Championships due to injury to finish 47th in 30:31.2 and Silas Winders wrapped up the Cyclone contingent in 57th in 30:39.4.

In addition, the NCAA Midwest Regional serves as the competition for the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series, with the Cyclones' third-place effort bettering the Hawkeyes' 17th place running to give Iowa State an additional two points and an 11-0 lead heading into the December winter sports competitions.

Up Next
The NCAA will announce the at-large teams for the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday. Should Iowa State not be chosen as a team, Sieperda and Winders would be guaranteed of a spot as one of the top fou individuals from a non-advancing team. The NCAA Cross Country Championships will be Saturday, Nov. 19 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Team Scores
1. Tulsa – 49; 2. Oklahoma State – 49; 3. Iowa State – 73; 4. Loyola Chicago – 156; 5. Wichita State – 184; 6. South Dakota State – 204; 7. Illinois – 257; 8. Bradley – 271; 9. Minnesota – 283; 10. Drake – 320

Individual Results
1. Isai Rodriguez, Oklahoma State – 29:40.1; 8. Gable Sieperda, Iowa State – 29:43.8; 10. Titus Winders, Iowa State – 29:47.8; 14. Ezekiel Rop, Iowa State – 29:54.1; 15. Chad Johnson, Iowa State – 29:56.2; 26. Kelvin Bungei, Iowa State – 30:09.4; 47. Timothy Sindt, Iowa State – 30:31.2; 57. Silas Winders, Iowa State – 30:39.4

Iowa State University Athletics

No. 27 Cyclone Men Third at NCAA XC Midwest Regional

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