Several trophies will travel back with WVU Cross Country from Waco, Texas this weekend.
Led by senior Ceili McCabe, who ran the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Paris Olympic Games this summer, WVU Cross Country finished second overall at the Big 12 Championship on Friday. McCabe took home first place overall for the third time.
McCabe redshirted as a senior last season but finished first in both 2021 and 2022 at the conference championship. Her run on Friday was just her third of this year.
True freshman Joy Naukot from Kenya placed third overall for the Mountaineers as well, followed closely by senior Sarah Tait in 12th, graduate student Madison Trippett in 20th, and junior Emily Bryce in 25th. Bryce’s finish counted as 24th overall for team scoring purposes.
Sophomore Lexi Lamb and redshirt freshman Mary Delaney ran for WVU as well but did not place in the team’s top five and thus did not impact its score. Lamb and Delaney placed 67th and 82nd respectively.
All runners in the women’s championship ran a 6-kilometer course. McCabe, Naukot, and Tait all finished the race in under 20 minutes, with McCabe finishing in 19:02.6, more than 14 seconds faster than Texas Tech sophomore Juliet Cherubet, who placed second, and more than eight seconds faster than her previous personal best.
Next up for the Mountaineers is the Mid-Atlantic Regional in University Park, Pa. on Nov. 15. West Virginia will need to place in the top two of the region to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships in Madison, Wis.
Final times
