Texas Tech Athletics
Big 12 Championships
Chemakwila, Chelimo Pace Tech at Big 12 Meet
October 28, 2005 | Cross Country
Oct. 28, 2005
Waco, Texas - The Texas Tech cross country teams competed at the 2005 Big 12 Cross Country Championships in Waco, Texas, this morning. The men's squad, led by junior Kevin Chelimo, finished in ninth place. Chelimo was also named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. The women's squad, led by junior Violet Chemakwila, finished in sixth place.
Chelimo was the top male finisher in Tech Big 12 cross country history today with a fourth place finish and a clocking of 23:56. Benson Cheserek was the second Tech finisher in 37th place with a time of 25:20. Freshman Orey Smith rounded the red Raider top three with a clocking of 26:23, good for a 64th-place finish.
Chemawila was the top female finisher in Tech Big 12 cross country history today with a third-place finish and a clocking of 20:39. Irene Kimaiyo was the second Red Raider in the top 10 with a 10th-place finish and a time of 21:13. Jessica Stovall rounded out the top three with a 31st-place finish and a time of 22:15.
Chelimo, Chemakwila and Kimayio earned all-conference honors for their performances.
"The women performed like I thought we could," said head coach Jon Murray. "It was exciting and very close to our program best for losing four of top five from last year. To be in the top half shows the character of our athletes. I'm really proud of Kevin's performance. As for the team performance, I'm a little disappointed but overall it was still a good performance and there is lots to grow on and keep improving on."
The Colorado Buffaloes swept the men's and women's team titles. Christine Bolf of CU was the women's individual title-holder and Benson Chesang of Kansas was the men's individual title winner.
Next up for Tech will be the NCAA Mountain Region Championships on Sat., Nov. 12, in Provo, Utah.
Players Mentioned
