Cyclones Prepped for NCAA Championship Weekend

Maelle Porcher will represent the Iowa State women's cross country team and the No. 4 Cyclone men will compete for a national championship in Madison on Saturday morning. Porcher is competing at her third consecutive NCAA Cross Country Championship while the men will aim for their third top five finish in four seasons.

NCAA Championships
Saturday, November 23, 2024
Women's 6K | 9:20 a.m. CT
Men's 10K | 10:10 a.m. CT
Watch | Live Results | Meet Information | Course Maps

Last Time Out
The No. 4 Iowa State men finished as runners-up at the NCAA Midwest Regional last Friday, earning an automatic bid to the national championship meet. The Cyclones were led by Robin Kwemoi Bera and Said Mechaal, finishing third and fourth, respectively. All seven ISU runners finished in the top 25 and earned All-Midwest Region honors.

Maelle Porcher gutted out a third-place finish in the women's 6K in Peoria. Porcher automatically advanced to the national championship as the second top individual finish from a non-qualifying team. Her time of 19:52.8 was just four seconds behind runner-up Ali Weimer of Minnesota.

Both the Cyclone men and women bested in-state rival Iowa and picked up four total points in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series standings.

The Field at the NCAA Championships
The Iowa State men will be competing for a podium finish, their first since 2021, with fellow top five programs No. 1 BYU, No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 3 Arkansas and No. 5 New Mexico.

The Course
Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course will host the NCAA Championships for the second time. It is the fourth meet this season that the Badgers will host and the third time the Cyclones will run on the course.

What to Watch For

Maelle Porcher will look to improve on a top 85 finish from a season ago. Porcher ran 20:33.5 in Charlottesville last season to finish 83^rd, leading the Cyclones to a top 20 team finish.
Robin Kwemoi Bera has led Iowa State in each of its last four competitions, finishing fifth at both the Nuttycombe Invitational and the Wisconsin Pre-National meet, fourth at the conference championships and third at the NCAA Midwest Regional.
Said Mechaal has also been a strong leader for ISU, claiming all-conference and all-region honors for the second consecutive season as a Cyclone.
Joash Ruto made his Iowa State debut at the Big 12 Championships, finishing 14^th individually and earning All-Big 12 status. Ruto, along with Rodgers Rotich and Devan Kipyego, earned rest last week and did not run at the Midwest Regional but will be fresh and competing this weekend for a national championship.

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Players Mentioned

Robin Kwemoi Bera

Rodgers Kiplimo

Devan Kipyego

Said Mechaal

Maelle Porcher

Joash Ruto

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