AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State men’s cross country team battled a stacked field at the 2025 Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational while ISU junior Seth Clevenger posted a top 20 finish in a breakout individual race.

“Seth Clevenger, oh my goodness, this is a massive breakout race for him,” said director of cross country Jeremy Sudbury. “I’m just super proud about how well he ran; super disciplined, executed the plan flawlessly, got out in a great spot, maintained position and then really went to work that second half the race. Obviously, he put himself in a position to finish top 20 which really translates well going into the postseason. As we still try to figure out who’s our top seven to run at nationals, he’s definitely put himself in a situation where it’s hard not to think that guy’s going to be representing us at the NCAA Championship. So really excited for him.”

Clevenger led the way for Iowa State, who ran without its top five runners (Joash Ruto, Sanele Masondo, Robin Kwemoi Bera, Rodgers Kiplimo, Meshack Kimutai) from the Gans Creek Classic three weeks ago. Hanibal Haile helped ISU with a top 40 finish in 24:04.6. Other finishers for Iowa State were Isaac Rivera (181st), Quinton Orr (188th) and Emanuel Galdino (208th).

“The rest of the guys had a tough day, a few snags out there, a couple of bad breaks, but that’s part of racing and the cross country season. We’ll regroup and use this weekend as an opportunity to get ready for conference and the postseason,” said Sudbury.

Iowa State travels to Lawrence to compete for the Big 12 title at Rim Rock Farm. The men’s 8K race is slated to begin at 10 a.m. with the women’s 6K to follow at 11 a.m.

1. No. 3 New Mexico, 51; 2. No. 5 Colorado, 150; 3. No. 11 Syracuse, 152; 4. No. 13 NAU, 203; 5. No. 6 BYU, 218; 6. No. 21 Washington State, 228; 7. No. 16 Michigan State, 245; 8. No. 12 Butler, 257; 9. No. 7 Wisconsin, 271; 10. No. 9 Notre Dame, 274; 11. No. 16 CBU, 322; 12. No. 17 Tulane, 329; 13. No. 28 Harvard, 411; 14. North Carolina, 426; 15. Michigan, 435; 16. No. 18 Stanford, 443; 17. No. 24 Georgetown, 476; 18. Gonzaga, 495; 19. Louisville, 543; 20. No. 26 Eastern Kentucky, 547; 21. Lipscomb, 561; 22. Utah State, 567; 23. Iona 567; 24. No. 27 Tulsa, 571; 25. Portland, 575; 26. Furman, 594; 27. No 1 Iowa State, 638; 28. Washington, 698; 29. Duke, 753; 30. Villanova, 784; 31. Indiana, 847; 32. NC State, 895

1. Habtom Samuel, New Mexico, 22:58.0; 19. Seth Clevenger, Iowa State, 23:37.9; 63. Hanibal Haile, Iowa State, 24:04.6; 181. Isaac Rivera, 25:17.8; 188. Quinton Orr, Iowa State 25:26.3; 208. Emanuel Galdino, Iowa State, 26:07.3