AMES – The awards continue to roll in for Iowa State’s Gary Thompson Male Athlete of the Year, Edwin Kurgat. Today the Big 12 announced that Kurgat has been named the Big 12 Men’s Runner of the Week after a first-place performance at the John McNichols Invitational on Saturday.
Yesterday, the USTFCCCA named Kurgat its National Male Athlete of the Week. This is the second time in his career that Kurgat has earned Big 12 Runner of the Week accolades.
The Cyclones were led by the All-American in Terre Haute, Ind., on Saturday morning. Kurgat ran an outstanding race and finished first individually with an 8k time of 23:47. It was a battle down the last 400 meters, but Kurgat outlasted Stanford’s Thomas Ratcliffe, crossing the finish line four seconds ahead of him.
It was a stacked field that the Cyclones ran against as five of the Nation’s top-25 teams were in attendance, including No. 1 Northern Arizona and No. 7 Stanford. ISU finished third as a team at the event.
The Iowa State men will have a break before returning to the course. The Cyclones are set to run at the annual Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational on Friday, Oct. 18 in Madison, Wis.
