FULL RESULTS BIG 12 XC
Dominating team performances stole the headlines Saturday at Big 12’s, as the Oklahoma State men won their seventh consecutive conference title, and the Iowa State women made it a four-peat at Rim Rock in Lawrence, Kansas. 

The Cyclones were led by individual winner Crystal Nelson (#3 Flo50) who began to push down on the throttle shortly after 3k en route to her 2nd straight impressive victory. Two weeks ago in Wisconsin, Nelson took down Flo50 #1 Shelby Houlihan (PAC-12 champ) in a race loaded with All-Americans and NCAA title contenders. Especially notable in today’s result was that Nelson took down Flo50 #2 Rachel Johnson by nearly 27 seconds, as the Baylor star could not hold on after the move was made at 3k, settling for third in 20:15. 

This race had been hyped as a showdown between Nelson and Johnson, however it was Nelson’s Iowa State teammate Katy Moen who would wind up in second. Hanging with Nelson until 4.5k, Moen could not match her teammate’s strength over the last 1k, and would finish in 19:58 as Nelson ran comfortably the last mile to break the tape in 19:48. 

The Cyclones finished with all five of their scorers in the top 13, as Margaret Connelly finished fourth (20:17), Erin Hooker ninth (20:47), and Perez Rotich was 13th (20:55). The Cyclones sent a message today with their 27 point throttling at Big 12’s, especially impressive considering that they were once again without 2013 XC All American Bethanie Brown. Perhaps Brown is out with an injury, but if she can recover before NCAA’s, this Cyclones team could find themselves on the podium in Terre Haute. 

Another Big 12 meet, another beat down by Dave Smith’s Oklahoma State Cowboys. The #2 ranked team in the country ran conservatively from the beginning, allowing the race to play out in front of them before assuming control at the 5k mark. OSU was led by senior Kirubel Erassa who won the individual title in 24:08, as the Cowboys would place all five in the top 10 to total 27 points and a seventh straight Big 12 title. Abbabiya Simbassa of Oklahoma finished 2nd in 24:11 and Craig Lutz of Texas 3rd in 24:13. 

While this performance was expected, we finally got to see a glimpse of what this team is made of as the season turns to its championship portion. The Cowboys didn’t run at Wisco or Pre-Nats (they never do), so today’s race was the first indication that they could challenge Oregon and Syracuse for 2nd place at NCAAs. Once again, Colorado is far and above everyone else in the country, and unless something unforeseen happens, the team battle in Terre Haute will be a fight for second. 

The biggest determining factor for the Cowboys at NCAA’s will be their front runner, Erassa. The senior was expected to earn All-American honors last season, but he finished a disappointing 83rd at Terre Haute in an overall underwhelming day for Oklahoma State (3rd). When we spoke to Erassa earlier this season, he said that he believes he can be top-3 on November 22nd, certainly a performance that coach Dave Smith could use. If Erassa can show similar poise in three weeks as he did today, his expectations for himself could be manifested.