Cross Country Treks to Kansas for Big 12 Championships
October 25, 2006 | Cross Country
Oct. 25, 2006
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas Tech cross country squads will make their way to Lawrence, Kan., to face the conference schools at the Big 12 Championships on Friday, Oct. 27. The action takes place at the Rim Rock Farm with the women's 6K race getting its start at 10 a.m. CT. The men's 8K event is set to begin at 11 a.m.
The No. 21-ranked Red Raider women will be looking to earn their best conference finish, which is currently fifth-place from 1997 and 1999. The Tech team at present is the second-highest ranked Big 12 squad, with Colorado being ranked No. 10 in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association national poll.
Entering the race as the top runner for the Tech women is newcomer Sally Kipyego. She has breezed through her three competitions with first-place finishes, outrunning second place by an average of 32 seconds. She led the team to the title at the Red Raider Jackrabbit Open and the Murray Keatinge Invitational, while Tech achieved third at the Chile Pepper Invitational.
Others running for the ranked Red Raider squad will be Violet Chemakwila, Michlene Daniels, Asia Diaz, Michelle Edman, Molly Evans, Irene Kimaiyo, Gladys Kipsang and Jessica Stovall. Chemakwila comes in as the top Tech runner from last year's conference showdown, as she placed third with a time of 20:39. Kimaiyo also finished in the top ten, taking 10th place with a clocking of 21:13.
The men will be looking to place better than 10th, their highest-ever conference finish which they accomplished in 2000 and 2005. Kevin Chelimo will enter as the top Red Raider, as he has finished in the top 10 in each of the events. He took third at the Jackrabbit Open, first at Murray Keatinge and eighth at the Chile Pepper. Last year, Chelimo became the first male Red Raider to finish in the top 10 at the Big 12 Championships, with a fourth-place time of 23:56.
Joining Chelimo on the men's squad will be Eric Ayala, Cory Higgins, Silas Kemboi, John Means, Zachery Quinones, Edwin Sang, Jake Szot and Pedro Vargas. Vargas and Ayala are the only other Tech members to have participated at the conference meet in 2005.
Texas Tech results will be posted on www.texastech.com as soon as they become available. For more information on the conference championships, you may visit www.big12sports.com.
Players Mentioned
