Blanks caps unbeaten season with 28:37.7 effort in 10-kilometer final, Oklahoma State erases disappointment of tiebreaker setback to Northern Arizona last season by producing 49-71 victory against six-time champion to achieve first men’s title since 2012 at Panorama Farms 

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

EARLYSVILLE, Va. – Victor Shitsama said he was so disappointed following last year’s NCAA Division 1 Cross Country Championships, the Oklahoma State standout couldn’t sleep for four consecutive nights after the host Cowboys were edged by Northern Arizona on a head-to-head tiebreaker following the men’s 10-kilometer final at the Greiner Family Course in Stillwater.

In order for Shitsama and his teammates to erase the nightmare experience from their memories, they had to end Northern Arizona’s dreams of a seventh men’s team title in eight years.

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Despite Oklahoma State coach Dave Smith having uneasy flashbacks when his lineup and Northern Arizona were again tied at the 4-kilometer mark in Saturday’s championship race at the Panorama Farms Course, the Cowboys produced a significant surge near the midway point and never relinquished control.

With Harvard’s Graham Blanks capping an unbeaten season by becoming the first Ivy League male athlete to capture an NCAA cross country championship in 28 minutes, 37.7 seconds, Oklahoma State followed with five scorers in the top 15 to capture the fourth men’s team title in program history – including the first since 2012 – with a 49-71 victory against the Lumberjacks.

Similar to his performance Oct. 13 at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, Blanks didn’t lead until the final kilometer, creating an insurmountable gap in the last 600 meters against New Mexico freshman and Eritrean athlete Habtom Samuel, who was second in his NCAA finals debut in 28:40.7.

Stanford’s Ky Robinson, an Australian athlete who was looking to follow teammate Charles Hicks by capturing the individual crown, took third in 28:55.7.

Denis Kipngetich (28:59.7) and Brian Musau (29:11.0), freshmen and Kenyan competitors for Oklahoma State, were fourth and eighth, respectively, with Fouad Messaoudi finishing 10th in 29:13.3, Shitsama securing 12th in 29:16.1 and Alex Maier earning 15th in 29:20.2, as the Cowboys produced a fourth consecutive podium finish.

Adisu Guadia, an Israeli competitor, achieved 50th in 29:59.6 and Will Muirhead captured 85th in 30:25.9 for Oklahoma State, which produced the lowest winning men’s team score since Wisconsin triumphed with 37 points in 2005 – highlighted by six athletes in the top 18 – at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind.

Northern Arizona had five All-Americans in the top 25, but it still wasn’t enough to join UTEP, Michigan State and Arkansas as the only men’s programs in Division 1 history with at least seven championships.

Drew Bosley finished fifth in 29:03.8 and Nico Young secured sixth in 29:04.2, Aaron Las Heras earned 18th in 29:29.1, Santiago Prosser achieved 21st in 29:32.6 and Brodey Hasty took 25th in 29:36.3 for the Lumberjacks, who had only scored fewer points at a Division 1 final once in the past seven championship meets, prevailing with a 60-point performance in the March 2021 event in Stillwater.

Despite both teams having athletes unable to finish, Brigham Young and Arkansas placed third and fourth, respectively.

BYU earned an eighth consecutive top-10 finish, taking third for the second year in a row with 196 points.

James Corrigan (29:40.1) and Kenneth Rooks (29:42.9) were 32nd and 35th, respectively, to earn All-America honors for the Cougars, who had Davin Thompson and Casey Clinger sidelined all season with injuries and Aidan Troutner not completing Saturday’s race.

Arkansas achieved a third podium appearance in the past four Division 1 championship meets, placing fourth again with 211 points.

Patrick Kiprop, a Kenyan competitor who briefly took the lead at the 6-kilometer mark, led the Razorbacks by securing seventh in 29:07.7 and Kirami Yego, a South Alabama transfer, finished 13th in 29:17.2 for Arkansas, which had Elias Schreml and Reuben Reina unable to finish.

Jacob McLeod, the only male athlete from the 2018 final in Wisconsin competing Saturday, was the No. 5 scorer for the Razorbacks in 100th place overall, allowing Arkansas to hold off fifth-place finisher Iowa State at 230 points.

North Carolina, led by All-Americans Parker Wolfe in ninth at 29:12.6 and Alex Phillip taking 17th in 29:26.8, secured sixth with 249 points and Texas – which defeated Arkansas on Nov. 10 at the South Central Regional – captured seventh at 262 points, followed by Stanford earning eighth with 291 points.

Devin Hart led the Longhorns by placing 11th in 29:14.1, Villanova’s Liam Murphy earned All-America honors for the first time by achieving 14th in 29:17.5, with Iowa State’s Sanele Masondo, representing South Africa, securing 16th in 29:22.1 and Syracuse’s Perry Mackinnon grabbing 19th in 29:30.8. Alabama’s Victor Kiprop, a Kenyan athlete, completed the top 20 by clocking 29:31.5.