The title is the fifth under Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Dave Smith. The Cowboys saw all five scorers finish in the top 35, including three scorers in the top six, and finished with a total of 57 points, defeating third-ranked New Mexico by 25 points and second-ranked Iowa State by 101 points.
“I’m just so proud of this family, this group of guys,” Smith said. “Last year was a low point for us. They didn’t start pointing fingers… I screwed up and I told them that and they were cool with it. They said “tell us what to do differently this year and we’ll do it.” Just so proud of them and the confidence they put in our program and each other… They got back to work and put last year behind us and here we are.”
Brian Musau was the first of three Cowboys to cross the line in the top 10, finishing fourth with a time of 28:41.2 and beating his previous 10K record by three seconds. He also earned his third cross country All-America honors in as many years, becoming the sixth athlete to do so in program history after Jon Wild (1993-95), Ryan Vail (2007-2009), Colby Lowe (2009-11), Girma Mecheso (2009-10, 2012) and Alex Maier (2020, 2022-23).
Fouad Messaoudi and Denis Kipngetich followed suit with fifth and sixth-place finishes, respectively. Alongside Musau, both Cowboys earned their third cross country All-America honors as the seventh and eighth Cowboy athletes to do so.
“It was my last race in a Cowboy uniform and I felt like I was running for the team,” Messaoudi said. “It didn’t really matter how the race played out; I was going to be there. I had nothing to lose. It was really awesome seeing all these guys out there. We’ve been through hard times together and to see what happened to us last year and for us to come back… I’m really proud of everyone on the team, we’re a family and we did this for our university and everyone who supports us.”
Junior Adisu Guadie earned a 12th-place finish, and Ryan Schoppe wrapped up his storied Cowboy career anchoring the team with his first All-America honor in 34th place.
On the women’s side, freshman Isca Chelangat kept up with the leading half of the pack to finish seventh with a time of 18:56.1. The run marks the fastest 6K finish by a Cowgirl in program history, beating out Chelangat’s previous record set at the 2025 Big 12 Championship by 23 seconds. The performance also earned her first All-America honors.
Fellow freshman Maureen Rutoh finished 42nd in her debut on the national championship stage, while Billah Jepkirui finished 85th. Victoria Lagat and Lauren Ping rounded out the scoring with finishes in 183rd and 205th, respectively. Overall, the Cowgirls finished in 12th as a team with a total of 432 points.
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Men’s Race – Team (10K)
1. No. 1 Oklahoma State – 57 points
2. No. 3 New Mexico – 82 points
3. No. 2 Iowa State – 158 points
4. No. 4 Syracuse – 212 points
5. No. 6 Oregon – 239 points
Women’s Race – Team (6K)
1. No. 1 NC State – 114 points
2. No. 2 BYU– 130 points
3. No. 6 Oregon – 153 points
4. No. 4 New Mexico – 216 points
12. No. 8 Oklahoma State – 432 points
Men’s Individual – (10K)
4. Brian Musau – 28:41.2*
5. Fouad Messaoudi – 28:42.8*
6. Denis Kipngetich – 28:44.3*
12. Adisu Guadie – 28:49.7*
34. Ryan Schoppe – 29:01.7*
105. Will Muirhead – 29:37.8
182. Laban Kipkemboi – 30:19.8
Women’s Individual – (6K)
7. Isca Chelangat – 18:56.1*
42. Maureen Rutoh – 19:26.7*
85. Billah Jepkirui – 19:51.9*
183. Victoria Lagat – 20:27.1*
205. Lauren Ping – 20:39.8*
210. Gentry Turner – 20:42.0
236. Jinane Mahi – 21:04.3
* = Scored Team Points
