Red Raiders Competing at Highest Level
November 18, 2006 | Cross Country
Nov. 18, 2006
LUBBOCK, Texas - Eight Red Raiders will travel to Terre Haute, Ind., to represent Texas Tech at the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Monday, November 20th. Recently named the Mountain Region's women's athlete of the year, Sally Kipyego will lead the women's squad in their first team appearance at the championship event. Kevin Chelimo was the lone male Red Raider to qualify for the event, as this marks his second year to run in nationals.
After finishing second at the Mountain Regionals and moving up the ranks to 13th, the Red Raider women will compete against 31 of the top women's teams in the country. Included in the field are top-ranked Stanford, No. 2 Arkansas and No. 3 North Carolina State. Three Big 12 schools will be competing, along with Tech, No. 6 Colorado and No. 30 Baylor will travel to Indiana.
Alongside Kipyego will be All-Big 12 honorees Irene Kimaiyo and Violet Chemakwila. Also in the Tech lineup are Asia Diaz, Michelle Edman, Gladys Kipsang and Jessica Stovall. Chemakwila, Kimaiyo and Stovall will compete in their last cross country race as Red Raiders, as they are all seniors.
Chelimo will compete against 31 teams and 37 other individuals. The top teams on the men's side are Wisconsin, Colorado and Arkansas, who come in at No. 1, 2 and 3. Four conference schools will be competing: Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma State and Texas, who all automatically qualified in their respective regions.
The women's 6k race will being at 11 a.m. CT, with the men's following at 12:15 p.m. The men's 68th and women's 26th annual NCAA Championships will take place at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Ind.
Players Mentioned
