Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Big 12 Championship
Men 2nd, Women 5th at Big 12 Meet
November 01, 2008 | Cross Country
AMES, Iowa ? The University of Colorado men's cross country team placed second at the 2008 Big 12 Championship at the Iowa State Cross Country Course on Saturday morning. The women's team recorded a fifth-place fifth.
This was the first time since 1993 that the CU squads have not come away from the championship with at least one title, individual or team. The highest finisher for the men was junior Jordan Kyle and the women were lead by a 22nd-place finish from junior Emily Hanenburg.
The men had won the previous 12 titles, while the women had taken 11 of 12.
“We knew going into this weekend that there was a lot on the line,” senior Chris Pannone said. “We've walked away with the championship the last 12 years, so that was disappointing not to be able to repeat. We also knew that Oklahoma State is one of the best teams in the country and we did our best to run with them today and beat them but they had a good day and took the championship.”
The No. 17 men scored 66 points in the effort. No. 3 Oklahoma State won the title with 26 points and placed four in the top five (1-3-4-5). The Buffs recorded just one more point than third-place and No. 22 ISU (67).
Kyle, a newcomer to the Buffs this season, was happy with the finish of the team despite not being able to extend the winning streak to 13.
“The fact that we got second was good, but I think a lot of people looked better than they did at pre-nationals so I think we are moving in the right direction.”
Kyle, who started out the first 5k in the top four, finished the 8k race in 24 minutes, 28.2 seconds to earn his first All-Big 12 honor with his eighth-place finish.
“I ran an okay race,” Kyle said. “I didn't fall back too much in terms of people passing me but I think had a run where the OSU pack ran, I would have probably been in position to be higher up and finish the last 2k faster.”
Pannone finished right behind Kyle as he got out in the lead pack as well. Pannone recorded a ninth-place finish for his first all-conference honor in 24:35.5. In doing so, he improved from a 17th-place finish in 2007.
“Pannone and I got out pretty quick and found ourselves in a pretty good position early in the race,” Kyle said. “I was in the fourth position and started running with Shadrack Songok, who won the NCAA Outdoor 10k last year, and two other pretty good runners. I ran with them until just before 5k. I think that took a little more out of me than I was expecting.”
“This is definitely a big improvement from where I finished a couple of weekends ago at pre-nationals,” Pannone said. “I'm happy that I ran pretty close to my fitness. I would have liked to be a little higher, but I think this was still a good performance.”
Kenyon Neuman and Richard Medina, who were competing in their second race of the season, improved on their showings from pre-nationals two weeks ago and placed in the top 15. Neuman, who finished second last year, was 14th with a time of 24:50.0 and Medina was 15th (24:51.3) to earn his first All-Big 12 honor.
Perhaps the most important performance of the day came from Seth DeMoor, who finished 20th in his first conference meet. DeMoor was the fifth scorer for CU and just barely beat out the fifth racer for ISU, and helped the Buffs earn the extra point over the host Cyclones. DeMoor crossed the finish in 25:05.0 while ISU's Rico Loy and Joel Limo (who placed 21st and 22nd, respectively) finished in 25:05.9.
“Seth is coming off on an injury and just ran his first race of the season last weekend in a fairly non-competitive race,” head coach Mark Wetmore said “He had a good race and helped a lot.”
This was the first time since 1995 that the Buffs recorded a second-place team finish. Coincidentally, that year the Big Eight title went to OSU. That season wasn't bad for the Buffs as they did go on to take fourth at the national championship. Wetmore says that this year's group “is improving” and blames a quick start in the race to the excitement of “defending a title to a team ranked much higher.”
Texas Tech won the women's team title behind Sally Kipeygo's third consecutive title. She broke former CU standout Kara Grgas-Wheeler's course record of 20:30 from the 2000 NCAA Championship by 45 seconds (19:45.0). The Red Raiders notched 44 points for the title and Baylor was second with 71. Nebraska placed third (102), Texas was fourth (117) and CU recorded 145 points.
“Of course we wanted to do well and have a spot on the podium, but this was a positive step for us,” Hanenburg said. “We have some things to work out in the next couple of weeks before regionals, but if we can take a step in a couple of weeks like we did today, that would be really positive.”
Hanenburg finished in 21:56.1 for 22nd place. She improved on her time from the ISU Invite in September by more than a minute (23:08.00) where she also placed 22nd.
“Emily had a very good race,” Wetmore said. “She is doing everything right and is progressing nicely.”
This was the second time this season that Hanenburg has led the Buffs. She also led CU at the Rocky Mountain Shootout.
“I think the race went very well,” Hanenburg said. “It was very encouraging compared to the last couple of races we had. I think it is a step in the right direction.”
Sophomore Laura Thweatt was the second Buff to finish and came in at 22:02.5 and place 26 overall. Freshman Emma Coburn finished just behind Thweatt at 27th. She ran a time of 22:03.2 in her Big 12 premiere.
Senior Morgan Ekemo was 31st and finished with a mark of 22:11.6. Sophomore Allison Sawyer rounded out the team score with a 39th-place finish (22:18.3).
“I think the women were definitely a better team today than they were two weeks ago,” Wetmore said. “Some made some tactical errors and lost ground in the second half, which isn't what we usually do. But, we are making progress and if they take another step as a team between now and regionals, I think they may have a chance to advance to the national championship.”
The Buffs will be back in action on Nov. 15 for NCAA regional action. The mountain regional will take place in Fort Collins, Colo. Colorado State is the host school.
2008 BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
ISU Cross Country Course (Ames, Iowa)
MEN'S 6K TEAM SCORES
1. Oklahoma State; 26; 2. Colorado, 66; 3. Iowa State, 67; 4. Texas A&M, 95; 5. Missouri, 155; 6. Texas, 179; 7. Nebraska, 200; 8. Kansas, 208; 9. Texas Tech, 255; 10. Baylor, 297; 11. Kansas State, 355; 12. Oklahoma, 365.
MEN'S FINISHERS (Top 15):
1. German Fernandez, OSU, 23:47.4; 2. Shadrack Songok, TAMU, 23:51.1; 3. John Kosgei, OSU, 24:01.0; 4. Ryan Vail, OSU, 24:01.6; 5. Colby Lowe, OSU, 24:05.9; 6. Guor Marial, ISU, 24:15.4; 7. Kiel Uhl, ISU, 24:20.8; 8. Jordan Kyle, CU, 24:28.2; 9. Chris Pannone, CU, 24:35.5; 10. Kevin McNab, TAMU, 24:37.0; 11. Hillary Bor, ISU, 24:39.8; 12. Gilbert Limo, TTU, 24:40.0; 13. David Chirchir, OSU, 24:43.8; 14. Kenyon Neuman, CU, 24:50.0; 15. Richard Medina, CU, 24:51.3.
Other CU Finishers: 20. Seth DeMoor, 25:05.9; 23. Matt Tebo, 25:08.3; 25. Nick Miller, 25:13.4; 29. Christian Thompson, 25:18.1; 41. Andy Wacker, 25:31.5
WOMEN'S 6K TEAM SCORES
1. Texas Tech, 44; 2. Baylor, 71; 3. Nebraska, 102; 4. Texas, 117; 5. Colorado, 145; 6. Kansas State, 158; 7. Oklahoma State, 168; 8. Kansas, 203; 9. Iowa State, 225; 10. Oklahoma, 229; 11. Texas A&M, 242, 12. Missouri, 284.
WOMEN'S FINISHERS (Top 15):
1. Sally Kipyego, TTU, 19:45.0; 2. Lillian Badaru, TTU, 20:36.8; 3. Erin Bedell, BU, 20:45.4; 4. Beverly Ramos, KSU, 20:46.8; 5. Kelly Waters, OU, 21:15.0; 6. Lara Crofford, NU, 21:18.9; 7. Christina Munos, TAMU, 21:22.4, 8. Asia Diaz, TTU, 21:25.0; 9. Rachel Carrizales, NU, 21:25.2; 10. Betzy Jimenez, UT, 21:27.1; 11. Nichole Jones, BU, 21:30.0; 12. Lauren Bonds, KU, 21:31.0; 13. Mihaela Susa, OSU, 21:33.8; 14. Michelle Guzman, TTU, 21:38.1; 15. Liliani Mendez, KSU, 21:40.3.
Other CU Finishers: 22. Emily Hanenburg, 21:56.1; 26. Laura Thweatt, 22:02.5; 27. Emma Coburn, 22:03.2; 31. Morgan Ekemo, 22:11.6; 39. Allison Sawyer, 22:18.3; 44. Kaylen Slack, 22:26.9; 49. Katie Cumming, 22:42.9; 62. Rachel Gioscia, 23:01.2.
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Players Mentioned
