BYU, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech collected the 2023 Big 12 Cross Country yearly individual awards in a vote by the league’s head coaches.
The Cowboys swept the men’s awards for back-to-back years as Brian Musau (runner), Denis Kipngetich (newcomer) and Dave Smith (coach) earned the distinctions. On the women’s side, Oklahoma State’s Billah Jepkirui (runner) and Texas Tech’s Juliet Cherubet (newcomer) nabbed the student-athlete awards with BYU’s Diljeet Taylor and OSU’s Smith sharing the Big 12 Women’s Coach of the Year.
Musau capped his year off with the Big 12 cross country individual title and a top-10 finish at the 2023 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. The freshman earned All-Region and All-America status with his runner-up and eighth-place finishes at the regional and NCAA meets, respectively. After leading all Oklahoma State runners in the Big 12 Championship, he also scored the second-most to help stake OSU’s first national championship since 2012. Musau is the first freshman and the second-consecutive Cowboy to secure the honor.
Kipngetich was named the Big 12 Men’s Newcomer of the Year to give Oklahoma State its third recipient in four years. The freshman ended his year as the highest-place finisher for the Cowboys at the 2023 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships with a fourth-place result. He also won the NCAA Midwest Regional by over 10 seconds and began the year with another individual title at the Cowboy Jamboree.
Jepkirui culminated her sophomore season with the Women’s Runner of the Year award. She garnered All-America honors with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championships and led the Cowgirls to a third-place finish, the highest in program history and their second straight podium appearance. The Kapsabet, Kenya native also collected the individual title in the Midwest Regional and a runner-up result at the Big 12 Championship after starting the year with a 14-second win at the Cowboy Jamboree. Jepkirui is the first Cowgirl to win the Big 12 Runner of the Year since the award was introduced in 2016.
Cherubet finished her year earning All-American honors at the NCAA Championships to solidify her case for Big 12 Women’s Newcomer of the Year. The pre-nursing major finished as the second-highest placing freshman and 18
th overall at the NCAA’s, third in the Mountain Regional and third at the Big 12 Championships. She began the year with back-to-back wins in her first two collegiate races at the Gans Creek Classic and Arturo Barrios Invite before competing at the Big 12 Championship and NCAA Mountain Regional. The native from Eldoret, Kenya also joined former Red Raider Sally Kipyego as the only two in program history to win consecutive Big 12 Runner of the Week Awards. She is the first Red Raider to garner the yearly award since Rose Tanui did so in 2010.
Taylor led BYU to its first Big 12 title in its inaugural season in the Conference to earn the Big 12 Women’s Co-Coach of the Year honors. The Cougars tallied 35 points in the Big 12 Women’s 6K race to edge out the defending champions, Oklahoma State (39 points), with four runners in the top-eight. Under her tutelage, senior Aubrey Frentheway earned All-American honors at the NCAA Championships as they led the Cougars to a 14
th-place finish. BYU punched their ticket to the championships for the ninth straight year after securing an automatic bid in the Mountain Regional with a runner-up finish. Taylor is the eighth different coach to secure a share of the Big 12 Women’s Coach of the Year in Conference history.
Smith collected the Big 12 Men’s Coach of the Year as well as a share of the Big 12 Women’s Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year. He guided the Cowboys to their fifth men’s national title in program history and first since 2012. The men’s team finished with 49 points, the lowest winning score since 2005, and five runners in the top-15 earning All-American honors. On the women’s side he led the Cowgirls to a school-record 156 points, topping the previous best by almost 50 points and their second-straight NCAA podium finish. Three Cowgirls finished with All-American honors while four were named to the All-Big 12 team. It is the 12
th time he has won Men’s Coach of the Year and fifth time garnering a share of the Women’s Coach of the Year in his 15 years at Oklahoma State.
2023 Big 12 Cross Country Awards
Men’s Runner: Brian Musau, Oklahoma State
Men’s Newcomer: Denis Kipngetich, Oklahoma State
Men’s Coach of the Year: Dave Smith, Oklahoma State
Women’s Runner: Billah Jepkirui, Oklahoma State
Women’s Newcomer: Juliet Cherubet, Texas Tech
Women’s Co-Coaches of the Year: Diljeet Taylor, BYU & Dave Smith, Oklahoma State