No. 3 Colorado won the 2026 Big 12 Men’s Cross Country Championship on Saturday, Oct. 31, edging defending champion and No. 2 Oklahoma State 36 to 38 on points. The event took place at the Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Okla., to open the NCAA Division I postseason campaign.
Colorado took control during the middle stages of the race to secure the team title at Oklahoma State’s home course. While the Buffs were in second place at the 2K mark, they took the lead at 3K and maintained it through the finish. The team placed five runners in the top 11 to secure the win, with its first and fifth runners finishing 19.5 seconds apart.
Oklahoma State finished in second place with 38 points. The Cowboys were in fourth place at the 1K mark but rallied to finish second, failing to win back-to-back titles or their fifth title in six years. BYU finished third with 91 points after leading at the 2K mark.
In the individual 8K race, Oklahoma State senior Denis Kipngetich won with a time of 23:05.7, marking his first Big 12 title. Colorado junior Dominic Serem finished second in 23:06.9. Oklahoma State senior Brian Musau, who entered the race as a three-time defending champion, finished third in 23:08.0 after losing ground in the closing meters.
The championship was presented by Allstate. Other notable finishes in the men's 8K included Meshack Kipruto of Colorado in fourth and Titus Kimaru of Texas Tech in fifth. The full team standings saw Iowa State in fourth with 104 points, followed by Arizona with 163 points.
The competition served as the opening for the NCAA Division I postseason campaign.
