TicketsLAWRENCE, Kan. -- The Cincinnati cross country teams enjoyed a successful Big 12 Championship meet on Friday morning, seeing its first two All-Conference honorees and the men and women earning their best finishes in league history.
Both squads were seventh out of 16 teams, with the men's 194 points and women's 205 both marking their best in three years competing in the nation's top cross country league. In fact, the only six teams to finish ahead of the women are ranked in the top-18 nationally.
Sophomore Nickson Kogei was eighth in the 8K with a 23:05.9 mark, while freshman Ann Lemirisho was 12th with a 19:52.1 in her 6K, her best time in three-such events this year.
"You always have high expectations," coach Lucas Rothenberger said. "That's what's fun about this sport. You dream a little bit, so I think we dream pretty high. We didn't hit everything, but we were really close, especially on the women's side, finishing seventh place. That was a huge step for the program, and then the men, to finish seventh place, again, improvement from last year, chopped a lot of points off of that performance from last year, and then our first time we've had All-Conference honors. Two people in the top 12, that's something we've never done, and I'm really excited about the future."
Lucas Towne was 41st and Seth Elking was 52nd for the second-and-third best finishes for the men's side, which were both significant jumps from last year's Big 12 event.
On the women's side, Claire Curtsinger took the No. 34 spot, while freshman Abby Sewell was No. 43. Gwen Stare was the team's fourth-best despite it being her second event of the fall.
"I think we know they're really talented, but I think what I've learned is there's no substitute for experience in this kind of an arena," Rothenberger said. "So for them to come in their first crack and hold their own against a bunch of All-Americans, they've definitely exceeded our expectations from just a development standpoint in being able to get in these high leverage situations and really shine."
The Bearcats are back in action Friday, Nov. 14 for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in Evansville, Indiana.