Women Finish Fifth, Men Ninth in Big 12 Championship with Multiple New Bests

AMES, Iowa – The K-State men's and women's cross country teams ran against a competitive field at the Big 12 Championship on Saturday (Oct. 28) at the Iowa State Cross Country Course in Ames, Iowa.

The women's team finished in the top-half of the expanded conference in fifth place with 185 points, tying their highest finish since 2021, the men finished ninth, out of 12 teams, with 266 points. First year member BYU won the women's 6k with 35 points, Oklahoma State winning the men's 8k for the fourth straight year with 25 points.

The women recorded eight new personal bests, including senior Hannah Stewart who finished first for K-State in 30^th place with a time of 20:43.7, now no. 9 in the K-State all-time 6k records.

Freshman Josephine Wanjiku and sophomore Cecilia Fisher finished consecutively in the top-50, Wanjiku in 38^th place at 21:03.3, Fisher with a time of 21:05.7 at 39^th. Fisher recorded a new 6k personal best by 34 seconds since the NCAA Midwest Regional last season.

Three women—sophomore Grace Meyer (52^nd; 21:27.9) and seniors Cailan Steward (58^th; 21:39.5) and Aubry Donley (66^th; 21:57.9)—all shaved more than 10 seconds off their previous best, Donley cracking 22 minutes for the first time this season.

Senior Sydney Burton (73^rd; 22:10.6) competed in her first race this season, four seconds ahead of freshman Paige Baker (77^th; 22:14.9), senior Helen Giefer (105^th; 22:55.3) and sophomore Katie Schwartzkopf (106^th; 22:56.5) with new bests. Giefer shaved four seconds off her time from the Gans Creek Classic in 2021, while Schwartzkopf cracked 23 minutes by a new time of 32 seconds.

The men's team saw significant personal bests as well, including junior Matthew Hauser who led the Wildcats with a 47^th place time of 24:28.8, landing in the K-State all-time 8k records at no. 16. Hauser shaved 23 seconds off his previous time, leading the men's charge for the first time since the Bob Timmons Classic to start the season.

Junior Tommy Hazen and senior Kerby Depenbusch crossed the finish line within three seconds of each other, Hazen in 63^rd place at 24:47.1, Depenbusch with a time of 24:50.7, finishing 64^th.

Three juniors—Kyle Johnston (70^th; 25:02.1), Jack Vincent (72^nd; 25:07.6) and Alex Gutierrez (75^th; 25:15.6)—finished in a pack. Johnston ran a new personal best by 15 seconds, Gutierrez also shaving 17 seconds off his previous best.

Junior Will Carroll (86^th; 25:40.7) and freshmen Devin Chappel (96^th; 25:59.4) cracked 26 minutes, Carroll with a time 31 seconds faster than his previous. Freshman Jacob Norris (104^th; 27:15.7) rounded out the men's team with Chappel in their first conference race.

Next up for K-State in postseason competition is the NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday, Nov. 10, in Stillwater, Okla., at the Greiner Family Cross Country Course.

FROM THE HEAD COACH
Head Coach Randy Cole
On the men's team performance…
"Iowa State put on a quality meet over their well groomed championship course. Weather was cool and breezy but times were fast on a legitimate course. The men packed close together but could not quite move up over the second half of the race. I had hoped we would get in the top-seven but only placed ninth. Matt Hauser led the team with a personal best and I think number 16 mark on our all-time list."

On the women's team performance…
"The women raced up to a good level with a goal of top-five and they achieved that. More is in the tank but they did a nice job today. Hannah Stewart led the team as she moved well throughout with [a personal record] and number eight all time mark. Josephine Wanjiku hit out a little too hard and suffered a bit but kept it strong at the end. Cecilia Fisher had her best race as a Wildcat as she was charging all the way and finished right behind Josephine with a personal record and number 16 mark on the KSU all-time 6000 meter list."

On the team looking to the NCAA Midwest Regional…
"We had strong efforts from Grace Meyer, Cailan Steward, Aubry Donley, Sydney Burton, [in her] first meet of the year, and Paige Baker. We have the opportunity to continue to improve at the Midwest Regional Championships in two weeks at Stillwater, Oklahoma."

FROM THE COURSE
Sophomore Cecilia Fisher
On the women's team performance…
"We did very well! Eight of the 10 girls had a personal best so that was very exciting! We got fifth out of 14 teams in a very competitive conference which is also awesome!"

On her new personal best…
"I was very happy about it! Very excited to see all the hard work paying off and excited to be peaking at the right time. Looking forward to regionals, I look forward to keep training and racing one more time this season with my team, they are who I do it for and I love spending time with them!"

MEN'S TEAM FINISHES (8K)
1. Oklahoma State, 25 pts
2. BYU, 55 pts
3. Texas, 70 pts
4. Iowa State, 114 pts
5. Texas Tech, 171 pts
6. Kansas, 179 pts
7. Cincinnati, 204 pts
8. Oklahoma, 229 pts
9. K-State, 266 pts
10. Houston, 293 pts
11. TCU, 313 pts
12. Baylor, 346 pts

K-STATE'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (8K)
47. Matthew Hauser, 24:28.8 (PR)
63. Tommy Hazen, 24:47.1
64. Kerby Depenbusch, 24:50.7
70. Kyle Johnston, 25:02.1 (PR)
72. Jack Vincent, 25:07.6
75. Alex Gutierrez, 25:15.6 (PR)
86. Will Carroll, 25:40.7 (PR)
96. Devin Chappel, 25:59.4
104. Jacob Norris, 27:15.7

WOMEN'S TEAM FINISHES (6K)
1. BYU, 35 pts
2. Oklahoma State, 39 pts
3. Iowa State, 70 pts
4. West Virginia, 163 pts
5. K-State, 185 pts
6. Kansas, 208 pts
7. Texas, 221 pts
8. TCU, 236 pts
9. Texas Tech, 240 pts
10. Cincinnati, 243 pts
11. UCF, 263 pts
12. Oklahoma, 345 pts
13. Houston, 374 pts
14. Baylor, 391 pts

K-STATE'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (6K)
30. Hannah Stewart, 20:43.7 (PR)
38. Josephine Wanjiku, 21:03.3
39. Cecilia Fisher, 21:05.7 (PR)
52. Grace Meyer, 21:27.9 (PR)
58. Cailan Steward, 21:39.5 (PR)
66. Aubry Donley, 21:57.9 (PR)
73. Sydney Burton, 22:10.6
77. Paige Baker, 22:14.9 (PR)
105. Helen Giefer, 22:55.3 (PR)
106. Katie Schwartzkopf, 22:56.5 (PR)

How to follow the 'Cats: For complete information on the K-State Track and Field and Cross Country Teams, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter, Threads, Facebook and Instagram.

Kansas State University Athletics

Women Finish Fifth, Men Ninth in Big 12 Championship with Multiple New Bests

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Players Mentioned

Paige Baker

Sydney Burton

Will Carroll

Devin Chappel

Kerby Depenbusch

Aubry Donley

Cecilia Fisher

Helen Giefer

Alex Gutierrez

Matthew Hauser

Tommy Hazen

Kyle Johnston

Grace Meyer

Jacob Norris

Katie Schwartzkopf

Cailan Steward

Hannah Stewart

Jack Vincent

Josphine Wanjiku