The Alabama women’s and men’s cross country teams finished on the podium at the SEC championship in College Station, Texas.
Women’s
At the Watts Cross Country Course, the women’s team, ranked No. 7 in the country, swept the SEC championship, winning individually and as a team and scoring 72 points. This is the team’s third-straight SEC title.
Sophomore Doris Lemngole claimed her first SEC championship win while shattering the course record. She finished the race with a time of 18:20.3, averaging 4:55 per kilometer. Lemngole has now won four races in a row.
On Oct. 30, Lemngole was awarded the SEC Women’s Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. The last time an Alabama runner was given this award was when Mercy Chelangat won it in 2021. Lemngole maintains a 4.0 grade average and is majoring in sports management.
“Doris is the backbone of our program, and we just love her and her dynamic personality,” head coach Dan Waters said. ”Her list of accomplishments here at Alabama speaks for itself, and I couldn’t be prouder of her.”
Sophomore Brenda Tuwei — who, like Lemngole, is from Kenya — finished fourth, crossing the line in 18:48.1 and earning Alabama 4 points.
Freshman Pheline Mining was Alabama’s third-highest-scoring runner and finished in 15th place. Mining ran a 19:45.8, earning the team 15 points.
Alabama’s final two scoring runners, freshmen Addison Dorenkamp and Franziska Drexler, crossed the line in 19th and 33rd places, respectively. Dorenkamp finished with a time of 19:48.5, and Drexler was less than 20 seconds behind, with 20:04.5.
“I’m super excited for the women; they did an excellent job in executing today’s race plan. I couldn’t be prouder of Doris, Brenda, Pheline, Addison and Franziska,” Waters said.
Men’s
The men’s team, ranked 11th in the country, finished second on the podium with a score of 52 after three scoring runners finished in the top 10.
Alabama finished behind the Arizona Razorbacks for the second year in a row, and the team has now finished in the top two for three years straight.
Senior Victor Kiprop finished second behind Arizona’s Patrick Kiprop (no relation) after running a 22:07.2 in the men’s 8k.
Freshman Dismus Lokira finished in fourth place, crossing the line in 22:17.1. Lokira was the only other Alabama runner to finish in the top five.
Sophomore Dennis Kipruto earned the team 6 points with his sixth-place performance, running a 22:37.9.
Seniors Hillary Cheruiyot and Hudson Hurst rounded out Alabama’s scoring runners, finishing 19th and 21st, respectively. Cheruiyot ran a 23:09.8, and Hurst finished five seconds behind him with a 23:14.6.
“Overall, to have both our programs finish in the top two for the second time in three years speaks directly to the work and preparation from our entire program,” Waters said.
Both teams now take another week off before they head to Tallahassee, Florida, on Nov. 15 to compete in the NCAA regional championships.
