Iowa State and Oklahoma State headlined this year’s 2020 Big 12 Cross Country individual awards.
On the women’s side, the Cyclones swept the honors with Cailie Logue taking home Runner of the Year, freshman Brenna Cohoon named Newcomer of the Year and Amy Rudolph picking up Coach of the Year.
After winning the men’s title by tiebreak, Oklahoma State’s Dave Smith was tabbed Coach of the Year and Victor Shitsama shared Newcomer of the Year. Cyclone Wesley Kiptoo was named the Runner of the Year, while sharing Newcomer of the Year.
Logue became the second Big 12 student-athlete to win the Big 12 individual title in three consecutive years. The senior claimed the 6K individual title with a run of 20:00.5. Logue also won individual titles at the Cowboy Jamboree 6K (20:30.6) and Bob Timmons Classic 5K (17:08.5). The Runner of the Year award is the third for Logue and Iowa State.
Cohoon placed fifth at the Big 12 Championship with a time of 21:11.5 to earn All-Big 12 honors, finishing the highest amongst Conference newcomers. She earned a ninth-place spot at the Bob Timmons Classic (18:12.0) and finished 17th at the Cowboy Jamboree (22:19.3). Cohoon is the sixth Cyclone to earn the newcomer distinction.
Rudolph collected her second Coach of the Year honor and the eighth for the Cyclone program after leading ISU to its first team title since 2018. The Cyclone women won all three team titles (Bob Timmons Classic, Cowboy Jamboree and Big 12 Championship) this fall and helped capture the team’s eighth Big 12 title since 2011.
Kiptoo recorded a standout debut season at Iowa State, culminating with the Big 12 title with a run of 22:35.4 in the 8K at the Big 12 Championship. He also won individual crowns at the Cowboy Jamboree 8K (23:34.5) and the Bob Timmons Classic 6K (18:06.0). His winning margins in each race were 13.6, 26.9 and 13.9 seconds. Kiptoo captured Runner of the Year for a fourth-consecutive year for Iowa State, while his Newcomer of the Year award is the first for a Cyclone since 2016.
OSU’s Shitsama earned a fifth-place spot and All-Big 12 accolades at the Big 12 Championship. His top-five performance helped OSU win its 10th team title and first in four years. All three of the freshman’s performances were top-10 finishes including a third-place mark at the Cowboy Jamboree 8K (24:06.7) and a 10th-place mark at the Oklahoma State Invitational (24:03.8). He is the seventh Cowboy to win the Newcomer of the Year award and the first since 2018.
Coach Smith guided Oklahoma State to its 10th Big 12 title in the last 12 years. OSU tied in points with Iowa State, but three of the Cowboys’ top finishers placed ahead of the Cyclones to win the team crown by tiebreak. Smith’s team, which didn’t qualify for the NCAA Championship a year ago, ranked as high as No. 5 in the USTFCCCA coaches’ poll this season. The coaching award is the 10th for Smith.
2020 Big 12 Cross Country Awards
Men’s Runner of the Year: Wesley Kiptoo, Iowa State*
Women’s Runner of the Year: Cailie Logue, Iowa State*
Men’s Newcomers of the Year: Wesley Kiptoo, Iowa State and Victor Shitsama, Oklahoma State
Women’s Newcomer of the Year: Brenna Cohoon, Iowa State*
Men’s Coach of the Year: Dave Smith, Oklahoma State*
Women’s Coach of the Year: Amy Rudolph, Iowa State*
* Unanimous Selection
Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own student-athletes.