TicketsCINCINNATI — Two Cincinnati cross country runners, Nickson Kogei and Ann Lemirisho, are off to the Show Me State for the sport's biggest stage: the NCAA Championship on Saturday morning.
The championship race will be at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Mo. It will be streamed live on ESPNU with the women's race at 10:20 a.m. ET and the men's race at 11:10 a.m. ET.
This is only the second time in program history that Cincinnati has had a male and female qualifier, also coming under head coach Lucas Rothenberger in 2021 with Alec Sandusky and Ellie Leather, who was the first woman at UC to reach that stage.
Kogei captured the Great Lakes Regional championship with a 29:42.8 in the 10K, claiming the Angel Mounds course record this year in both that and the 8K. He is the third Bearcat to win that event, joining Aaron Bienenfeld (2019) and Eric Finan (2010). He is also the 11th in program history to qualify for the nationals.
Lemirisho earned the second individual spot out of the regional after finishing fourth. Last Friday saw her improve her time by 16 seconds from the aforementioned previous race at Angel Mounds. She has finished in the top-5 at four meets this season, also coming in 12th at the challenging Joe Piane Invitational and Big 12 Championships.