MADISON, Wis. — West Virginia’s remarkable cross-country season nearly finished with a national championship Saturday, at the Thomas Zimmer Cross Country Course.
Ranked No. 4 in the nation heading into the NCAA finals, the Mountaineers finished as the national runner-up, taking second place behind champion BYU.
The Cougars, who also won the Big 12 title over WVU earlier this season, finished with 147 points, while the Mountaineers scored 164.
“My first thoughts is it was incredible,” WVU head coach Sean Cleary said. “Second place out here today was just fantastic. We knew we had a shot at one through four, but we also knew we could just as easily be eighth or 10th. I’m just ecstatic for this program.”
It’s still the highest national finish for WVU in school history, and the Mountaineers saw three runners earn All-American honors.
Ceili McCabe led the way there for WVU, finishing sixth overall in the 6,000-meter race with a time of 19:41.2. It’s the third time she’s earned All-American status.
McCabe stayed with the lead pack throughout the race and was in second place overall at the 2,000-meter mark.
It was in the final 1,000 meters that Alabama’s Doris Lemngole pulled away from the pack and would not be caught. Lemngole won the individual title with a time of 19:21.0.
McCabe’s sixth-place finish gave the Mountaineers the early edge in the team competition, which scores the top five runners from each team.
BYU was led by Lexy Halladay-Lowry, who took 11th place, meaning WVU had a five-point lead over the Cougars through the first pack of runners.
WVU’s next two runners — Joy Naukot and Sarah Tait — also finished ahead of BYU’s second and third runners.
Naukot, a freshman from Kapenguria, Kenya, took 13th among scoring runners with a time of 19:50.3, while Tait was 26th among scoring runners with a time of 20:00.9.
Both earned All-American honors with McCabe.
“Having two up near the front is very special,” Cleary said. “It allowed out three, four and five (runners) to relax and move through the pack properly. It’s special when you’ve got Ceili and Joy out in the front of the pack.”
After the top three, WVU’s lead was 45-65, but the Cougars made up the deficit over the final two runners.
BYU’s Taylor Rohatinsky and Carlee Hansen made up the difference, both finishing ahead of WVU’s fourth runner.
BYU made it a clean sweep by also winning the men’s national championship with 124 points. Iowa State was the runner-up at 137.
Harvard’s Graham Blanks won the men’s individual championship with a time of 28:37.2 in the 10,000-meter race. It was his second consecutive national title.
For McCabe, she capped her collegiate cross country career with her second top 10 national finish. The senior from Vancouver, British Columbia also took third overall in 2021.
WVU’s Emily Bryce took 52nd among scoring runners with a time of 20:22.7 and Madison Tripett was 67th among scoring runners with a time of 20:29.0.
