It seemed like the Texas Tech cross country team couldn’t do much more to impress spectators except a strong finish at nationals.
But the No. 9 Lady Raiders found a way to make program history once again.
Tech finished in fourth place at the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Monday in Terre Haute, Ind., at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course.
It’s the highest finish in school history for the Lady Raiders at nationals and it comes a year after the departure of All-American Sally Kipyego.
“Sally did a great job for us,” Tech coach Jon Murray said. “She set the stage for success in the future. They learned how to work from her. She set high standards.
“This was a better team one through seven, than we’ve ever had.”
Indeed it was depth that helped the Lady Raiders out this season. Tech already had a handful of accolades in 2009 with a second consecutive Big 12 Conference championship and team wins in five of the seven races this season — the two being at nationals and Mountain Regionals on Nov. 14 in Albuquerque, N.M.
And it was strong contributions from many runners that put Tech on top for most of the season.
The top four teams received trophies, so the Lady Raiders made sure they did not come back to Lubbock empty handed.
Lillian Badaru and Purity Biwott were named All-Americans with 17th and 23rd place finishes, respectively. Badaru finished with a time of 20 minutes and 25 seconds and Biwott finished at 20:35. It was Badaru’s second consecutive All-America selection and Biwott’s first.
They weren’t the only runners who shined at nationals for Tech.
Winrose and Caroline Karunde finished 38th at 20:48 and 47th at 21:00, respectively. Gladys Kipsang finished in 66th place with a time of 21:11, leaving Michelle Guzman and Kaci Westervelt as the last two Lady Raiders to finish the race — Guzman in 202nd place with a time of 22:57 and Westervelt at 205th place in 23:09.
Murray said one of the strange things about running in Terre Haute was the weather. He said last year at nationals, the weather was a little colder, but in Terre Haute on Monday, the temperature was in the 60s, which is unusual for that area at this time of they year.
With nationals indicating the end of the season, the Lady Raiders lose Badaru and Kipsang, leaving the core of the group with another shot at a higher finish next year.
Winrose and Caroline Karunde are finishing up their first cross country season after time at Abilene Christian and Wayland Baptist, respectively. Westervelt is a junior. Biwott, who also went to Wayland Baptist, is a sophomore.
The Lady Raiders already entered the field with tough competition on deck. Colorado’s Jenny Barringer was dubbed the favorite to win the individual race without Kipyego to run against this season, but she finished in 163rd place after collapsing early in the race.
Tech finished with 191 points as a team, putting it behind Villanova’s 86 points, Florida State’s 133 and Washington’s 188.
So Murray said it leaves the Lady Raiders with a few more goals to achieve.
“Just keep on working,” he said. “We were almost third, three points away from third. So being in the top four of the national meet is a terrific goal.”
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