Drew Costelow runs the men’s mile during the Colorado Classic at the CU Indoor Practice Field on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. (Linus Loughry/CU Independent)
With two kilometers remaining in Friday’s Nuttycombe Invitational, Colorado freshman Meshack Kipruto was in fourth place.
He had spent most of the race working his way through the field rather than setting the pace.
Then he ran the final two kilometers in 5 minutes, 35 seconds.
That closing stretch was enough to pass the three runners ahead of him, win the men’s 8-kilometer championship race and break both the meet and course records in just his second collegiate race.
Kipruto finished in 22 minutes, 30.1 seconds at Wisconsin’s Thomas Zimmer Championship Course on Oct. 9, helping the No. 6 Colorado men’s cross country team finish second overall. The Buffaloes totaled 93 points, trailing only No. 1 New Mexico, which won with 59.
The performance was Kipruto’s second individual victory in as many collegiate starts, but this one came against a considerably stronger field.
A record-breaking finish
Kipruto did not establish himself among the leaders immediately.
He was 14th through the opening two kilometers, moved into 10th at the halfway point and reached fourth with two kilometers remaining. New Mexico freshman Pasanjo Kitonga led at the 6K mark, putting Kipruto in a position where he would have to make up ground late.
He did exactly that.
Kipruto’s 5:35 closing split was the fastest among the front-runners and carried him past Kitonga, who finished second in 22:30.8, just seven-tenths of a second behind. Louisville’s Elsingi Kipruto followed in third at 22:31.1, while Wake Forest’s Rocky Hansen finished fourth in 22:31.4.
All four runners finished faster than the previous course record.
The mark of 22:33.8 had stood since New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel set it at the 2024 Wisconsin Pre-Nationals. Samuel also held the previous Nuttycombe meet record of 22:58.0, set in 2025.
Kipruto broke both records in a race where the top four finishers were separated by just 1.3 seconds.
“The men were very good today,” Colorado head coach Sean Carlson said in a CU Athletics release. “[Kipruto] as a true 19-year-old freshman winning this meet is incredibly impressive.”
The freshman had already shown potential in his collegiate debut at the Roadrunners Invitational on Sept. 19, where he won the 8K in 24:00.0 and helped Colorado sweep the top five positions.
But Nuttycombe presented a much different challenge.
Rather than competing against a smaller field, Kipruto faced some of the nation’s strongest distance-running programs, including top-ranked New Mexico and No. 7 BYU.
He did not need to control the race from the beginning to win it. His ability to stay within reach of the leaders and make his move late ultimately made the difference.
Colorado finishes second behind New Mexico
While Kipruto claimed the individual title, New Mexico’s depth proved enough to secure the team championship.
The Lobos placed three runners among the top 10, including Kitonga in second, Evans Kiplagat in seventh and Collins Kiprotich in eighth.
Colorado still put together one of its strongest team performances of the season.
Senior Isaiah Givens finished 14th in 22:52.2, followed by sophomore Jake Liebert in 21st at 23:07.7. Lukas Haug placed 26th in 23:12.1, while freshman Jack Graffeo rounded out Colorado’s scoring five in 31st at 23:16.0.
Those finishes gave the Buffaloes 93 points, comfortably ahead of third-place BYU, which totaled 146.
For Colorado, the result was encouraging beyond Kipruto’s individual win. All five scoring runners finished among the top 31, giving the Buffs the kind of depth that becomes increasingly important as the competition gets stronger.
The Colorado women also finished among the top five, placing fifth with 166 points.
Sheylah Kurgat led the Buffaloes with a seventh-place finish in the women’s 6K, crossing the line in 19:24.3. Adrianna Buitelaar followed in 16th at 19:38.8, while Abbey Mathison placed 21st in 19:43.7.
West Virginia won the women’s team championship with 66 points.
A promising start heading into the postseason
Kipruto’s performance did not go unnoticed.
On Oct. 12, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association named him the NCAA Division I Men’s National Athlete of the Week. The Big 12 followed a day later, recognizing him as its Men’s Runner of the Week.
Both honors came after just two collegiate races.
That is an impressive start for a freshman, but it also raises expectations for what he could contribute as Colorado enters the postseason.
The Buffaloes have now completed their regular-season schedule and will travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma, for the Big 12 Championships on Oct. 31.
Friday’s performance showed that Colorado has an individual runner capable of winning against nationally ranked competition and a men’s team with enough depth to challenge some of the strongest programs in the country.
New Mexico still showed the difference between having the fastest individual runner and having the strongest overall team.
For Colorado, closing that gap will be the next challenge.
And for Kipruto, two races into his college career, the question is no longer whether he can compete against the nation’s best.
He has already beaten them.
Contact CU Independent Sports Editor Shruthi Rajesh at shra3446@colorado.edu
