This weekend in Lubbock, Texas, the Kansas men’s and women’s cross country teams competed for a Big 12 championship. For the first time in the history of the Kansas program, an individual won the women’s race. Sophomore Sharon Lokedi completed the 6k course in dominating fashion with a time of 20:18.5, fourteen seconds ahead of 2nd place.
The other women finishers included senior Hannah Richardson in 19th (21:22.0), junior Lydia Saggau in 31st ( 21:41), senior Malika Baker in 33rd (21:49.9), and senior Jennifer Angles in 46th place (22:17.9). The women’s final score tallied up to 129 points, good for a 6th place finish. Iowa State claimed the title on the women’s side with 56 points.
Without a top 10 finisher on the men’s side, the Kansas team relied on team work and solid finishes from each of their top 5 runners for success. Senior James Hampton was the first Jayhawk to cross the line, finishing 14th in a time of 26:01.5 over 10k.
Behind Hampton came junior Chris Melgares in 17th (26:04.4), sophomore Michael Melgares finishing in 19th (26:06.6), sophomore Dylan Hodgson in 22nd (26:13.6) and senior Daniel Koech in 32nd place (26:33.6). The solid performance from the men resulted in 104 points and a 4th place finish, as perennial power Oklahoma State took home the team title. This marked the 4th time in the past 5 seasons that the men’s cross country team finished in the top 5 at the Big 12 championship.
Up next the Jayhawks will travel to Iowa City, Iowa for the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships on November 11th. The women will begin at 11am, followed by the men at noon.
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