XC: Iowa State has historic day at nationals

The following photo and press release are courtesy of Iowa State athletics communications.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Iowa State’s Edwin Kurgat capped off a historic season by winning the 2019 NCAA Men’s Cross Country individual national title. The 2018-19 Gary Thompson Iowa State Male Athlete of the Year ran a 10k time of 30:32.7 to finish over four seconds clear of the field.

Kurgat was joined by all of his teammates on the podium at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course as the Cyclones earned a fourth-place finish. It is Iowa State’s first trophy finish at the NCAA Championships since ISU won the national title in 1994.

Just like head coach Martin Smith preaches to his team, Iowa State stayed patient throughout the race. At the 3k mark, ISU stat just outside the top-10 in 11^th. At the 5k mark, they moved up to 7^th, and then eventually moved up to fourth at the 8k mark and held that position for the remaining of the race.

Individually, the Cyclones saw six out of their seven runners finish in the top-100. Chad Johnson finished just outside of All-America contention in 43^rd with a time of 31:21.6. Mitchell Day was right behind him in 51^st with a time of 31:31.2.

Milo Greder, Addison Dehaven and Thomas Pollard rounded out the ISU runners in the top-100. Greder posted a 72^nd-place finish in 31:41.4. Dehaven followed him closely to earn a 76^th-place finish in 31:45.4. Pollard ran a 10k time of 31:56.5, good for 95^th individually. David Too was the seventh finisher in the ISU lineup at the NCAA Championships with a 174^th-place finish in 32:39.4.

Edwin Kurgat 2019 Capsule

What Edwin Kurgat accomplished in 2019 will not soon be forgotten. He becomes Iowa States third-ever national champion and the first to do so since 1990. Kurgat is also the fourth Big 12 runner to win the national title and the first since 2012.

Kurgat kicked off the postseason by defending his individual Big 12 title as Iowa State cruised to its third-straight team championship. He parlayed that into his second-straight NCAA Midwest Regional title. Kurgat was once again named the Bill Bergan Award winner, given annually to the top male performer in the Midwest Region. He is the fifth male athlete to repeat as the Bill Bergan Award winner.

During the regular season, Kurgat won both the John McNichols Invitational and the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational. On both occasions he was named the USTFCCCA National Male Athlete of the Week and the Big 12 Men’s Runner of the Week. He is the first men’s cross country runner to win two National Male Athlete of the Week honors in the same season since 2016.

Individual Results

1. Edwin Kurgat, 30:32.7
43. Chad Johnson, 31:21.6
51. Mitchell Day, 31:31.2
72. Milo Greder, 31:41.3
76. Addison Dehaven, 31:45.4
95. Thomas Pollard, 31:56.5
174. David Too, 32:39.4

Team Results (Top-5 out of 31 Teams)

1. BYU, 109
2. Northern Arizona, 163
3. Colorado, 164
4. Iowa State, 211
5. Tulsa, 243