Ames, IA (Oct. 28) – No. 4 BYU marked its Big 12 debut with a victory on Saturday, leveraging team depth and strategic pack-running to capture the women’s team title at the 2023 Big 12 Cross Country Championships, held at the Iowa State XC Course. The Cougars amassed 35 points, edging out defending conference champion No. 6 Oklahoma State by a mere five points.
Oklahoma State claimed the top two spots in today’s individual women’s 6k race. Senior Taylor Roe led the way, clocking 19:35.4 to secure the Big 12 title, finishing 6.7 seconds ahead of teammate Billah Jepkirui, who recorded a time of 19:42.1 for second place.
Read more: No. 2 Oklahoma State men dominate Big 12 Cross Country Championships; title for Brian Musau
Although Oklahoma State had three runners among the top five finishers, the team couldn’t match BYU’s depth, which saw all five of its scorers place within the top 10.
Lexy Halladay-Lowry was the top finisher for BYU, recording a time of 19:44.3 for a fourth-place finish. She was followed by teammates Jenna Hutchins in sixth place at 19:54.5, Carmen Alder in seventh at 19:57.2, and Aubrey Frentheway in eighth at 19:58.0. Riley Chamberlain rounded out BYU’s scoring, finishing 10th with a time of 20:10.4.
Texas Tech freshman Juliet Cherubet, who kept pace with the Oklahoma State leaders for most of the race before Roe pulled away, finished third with a time of 19:43.4.
Oklahoma State, the defending champion, had to content itself with a second-place finish, accumulating 39 points. However, head coach Dave Smith expressed satisfaction with his team’s performance in the latter stages of the races, hinting at strong showings in upcoming Regionals and the National Championship.
Rounding out the top five teams at today’s 2023 Big 12 Cross Country Championships were No. 17 Iowa State, finishing third with 70 points, followed by West Virginia with 163 points and Kansas State with 185.
Big 12 Cross Country Championship 2023 Results
| PLACE | ATHLETE | SCHOOL & CLASS | 6000M | SPLIT | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taylor Roe | Oklahoma State [SR] | 19:35.4 | 3:12.5 | 1 |
| 2 | Billah Jepkirui | Oklahoma State [SO] | 19:42.1 | 3:16.0 | 2 |
| 3 | Juliet Cherubet | Texas Tech [FR] | 19:43.4 | 3:16.9 | 3 |
| 4 | Lexy Halladay-Lowry | BYU [SR] | 19:44.3 | 3:12.4 | 4 |
| 5 | Molly Born | Oklahoma State [SR] | 19:45.1 | 3:11.1 | 5 |
| 6 | Jenna Hutchins | BYU [FR] | 19:54.5 | 3:16.9 | 6 |
| 7 | Carmen Alder | BYU [JR] | 19:57.2 | 3:21.3 | 7 |
| 8 | Aubrey Frentheway | BYU [SR] | 19:58.0 | 3:18.1 | 8 |
| 9 | Madelynn Hill | Iowa State [SR] | 20:04.6 | 3:15.8 | 9 |
| 10 | Riley Chamberlain | BYU [SO] | 20:10.4 | 3:26.4 | 10 |
| 11 | Maelle Porcher | Iowa State [SO] | 20:13.7 | 3:20.1 | 11 |
| 12 | Janette Schraft | Iowa State [SR] | 20:16.2 | 3:19.5 | 12 |
| 13 | Sadie Sargent | BYU [SR] | 20:22.7 | 3:15.9 | 13 |
| 14 | Carlee Hansen | BYU [JR] | 20:22.7 | 3:13.4 | 14 |
| 15 | Gabija Galvydyte | Oklahoma State [JR] | 20:25.5 | 3:36.3 | 15 |
| 16 | Payton Hinkle | Oklahoma State [FR] | 20:26.4 | 3:19.1 | 16 |
| 17 | Dana Feyen | Iowa State [SR] | 20:28.5 | 3:26.7 | 17 |
| 18 | Taylor Rohatinsky | BYU [SO] | 20:29.5 | 3:21.6 | 18 |
| 19 | Jacey Farmer | BYU [SO] | 20:30.0 | 3:18.5 | 19 |
| 20 | Anastaysia Davis | BYU [JR] | 20:30.3 | 3:22.7 | 20 |
Big 12 Cross Country Championship 2023 Team Scores
| PLACE | TEAM | 6000M | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | (6) | (7) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BYU | 35 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 13 |
| 2 | Oklahoma State | 39 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 16 | 18 |
| 3 | Iowa State | 70 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 17 | 21 | 27 |
| 4 | West Virginia | 163 | 2 | 22 | 25 | 32 | 39 | 45 | 47 |
| 5 | Kansas State | 185 | 4 | 26 | 33 | 34 | 43 | 49 | 57 |
| 6 | Kansas | 208 | 3 | 30 | 31 | 40 | 48 | 59 | 81 |
| 7 | Texas | 221 | 4 | 23 | 35 | 46 | 55 | 62 | 63 |
| 8 | Texas Christian | 236 | 5 | 19 | 38 | 51 | 58 | 70 | 73 |
| 9 | Texas Tech | 240 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 67 | 74 | 76 | 78 |
| 10 | Cincinnati | 243 | 7 | 29 | 37 | 52 | 60 | 65 | 68 |
| 11 | UCF | 263 | 5 | 41 | 42 | 53 | 61 | 66 | 72 |
| 12 | Oklahoma | 345 | 1 | 44 | 50 | 80 | 84 | 87 | 93 |
| 13 | Houston | 374 | 7 | 36 | 79 | 83 | 85 | 91 | 96 |
| 14 | Baylor | 391 | 3 | 54 | 69 | 86 | 90 | 92 | 94 |
Click here for the full results and team scores
