BYU, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and West Virginia shared the 2024 Big 12 Cross Country yearly individual awards in a vote by the league’s head coaches.
 
BYU swept the coaches awards as Ed Eyestone (men’s) and Diljeet Taylor (women’s) led their respective programs to Big 12 and NCAA Championships. Casey Clinger garnered the lone individual award for the Cougars as he was named the Big 12 Men’s Scholar Athlete of the Year. Oklahoma State and West Virginia both earned two yearly accolades as Brian Musau earned his second consecutive Big 12 Men’s Runner of the Year for the Cowboys and was joined by Sivan Auerbach, the women’s scholar athlete of the year. Ceili McCabe earned her third career Big 12 Women’s Runner of the Year while fellow Mountaineer Joy Naukot was tagged as the women’s newcomer of the year. Iowa State’s Joash Ruto concluded the awards with the men’s newcomer of the year award.
 
Musau earned All-American honors for the second consecutive year after placing fifth overall at the 2024 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, the highest of any Big 12 runners. The sophomore also became the seventh runner in Conference history to win back-to-back Big 12 Championship titles as he finished with a time of 22:06.9. Musau is the first Cowboy to earn the award twice.
 
Ruto finished 34^th at the NCAA Championships to earn All-American recognition as a freshman. The Nakuru, Kenya native was the third Cyclone to cross the finish line and helped ISU to a runner-up finish. He also concluded his first Big 12 Championship with a time of 22:43.72 to slot him into 13^th place and a spot on the All-Big 12 team.
 
Clinger is the first Cougar to be tabbed the Big 12 Men’s Cross Country Scholar Athlete of the Year. The senior is majoring in business management and boasts a 3.83 GPA. He led the Cougars to their second NCAA title in program history with a sixth-place finish at the national meet.
 
McCabe became the third female athlete in Conference history to win three Big 12 Championships with a program best time of 19:02.60. The senior went on to win the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional and break a course record before becoming the fourth Mountaineer in program history to garner three All-American honors. She was also named the Big 12 Women’s Runner of the Year in 2021 and 2022.
 
Naukot is the first Mountaineer to earn the Big 12 Women’s Newcomer of the Year award since McCabe did so in 2019. The Kapenguria, Kenya native was the fastest freshman to cross the finish line at both the Big 12 Championship and the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional. The first-year student-athlete culminated her debut season with All-American recognition at the NCAA Championships with a 17^th place result.
 
Auerbach became the second consecutive Cowgirl to be named the Big 12 Women’s Cross Country Scholar Athlete of the Year. The graduate student is double majoring in computer engineering and computer science with a 4.00 GPA. She was named to the All-Big 12 team after finishing 15^th with a time of 20:03.23.
 
Eyestone earned his first Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year accolade after leading BYU to a national title. Under his tutelage, four Cougars collected All-American honors and six All-Big 12 distinctions after winning the program’s first Big 12 Championship.
 
Taylor earned Big 12 Coach of the Year honors for the second consecutive year after being named a co-recipient of the award in 2023. She led the Cougars to the program’s sixth overall national championship title and second under her leadership. BYU accumulated three All-Americans, five All-Region distinctions, five All-Big 12 selections and the program’s second straight Big 12 title.
 
2024 Big 12 Cross Country Yearly Awards
 
Men’s Runner of the Year: Brian Musau, Oklahoma State
Men’s Newcomer of the Year: Joash Ruto, Iowa State
Men’s Scholar Athlete of the Year: Casey Clinger, BYU
Men’s Coach of the Year: Ed Eyestone, BYU
 
Women’s Runner of the Year: Ceili McCabe, West Virginia
Women’s Newcomer of the Year: Joy Naukot, West Virginia
Women’s Scholar Athlete of the Year: Sivan Auerbach, Oklahoma State
Women’s Coach of the Year: Diljeet Taylor, BYU