The Alabama men’s and women’s cross country teams swept the team titles at the NCAA Southern Regionals in Tallahassee, Florida, punching their tickets to the NCAA national championships.
Women’s
At the Apalachee Regional Park, the women’s team, ranked seventh in the nation, claimed its second regional title in three years. Three of the scoring runners placed in the top 10, while the team scored 63 points, beating second-place Florida by 16 points.
Sophomore Doris Lemngole continued her stellar streak, claiming second, finishing at 19:30.6, a tenth of a second behind Hilda Olemomoi, a junior from the University of Florida.
Lemngole was recently named the National Athlete of the Week by the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. This came after her dominant performance at the SEC championships in College Station, Texas, where she broke the course record by nearly 17 seconds. This is her second time earning the award; she received it for the first time her freshman year.
Sophomore Brenda Tuwei finished third overall in 19:52.8, 22 seconds behind Lemngole and Olemomoi. Tuwei improved on her performance from the SEC championships, where she finished fourth overall.
Freshman Pheline Mining rounded out the Crimson Tide’s top 10 finishers, placing seventh overall. Mining crossed the finish line in 20:11.4.
Freshmen Addison Dorenkamp and Franziska Drexler finished 19th and 32nd, respectively. They were the final runners to score for the Crimson Tide, despite the team having two more runners in the race.
“I thought our women … did great, placing three in the top seven — the only school to do that,” head coach Dan Waters said. “Starting with Doris who finished even with the other runner, and our freshmen Franziska and Addison — they all ran very well, stuck to their preparation, and it showed.”
Men’s
The men’s team, ranked 10th in the nation, swept both the team and individual titles, with a 1-2-3 finish making it an all-Crimson Tide podium. The team scored 80 points, beating second-place Ole Miss by 11 points and claiming its eighth regional title in program history.
Freshman Dismus Lokira claimed the individual title, the first in his career. Lokira clocked a 29:30.8 minute finish in the 10k race and improved greatly after the SEC championship, where he finished fourth overall.
Lokira was named to the All-SEC team after the SEC championship.
Senior Victor Kiprop finished second on the podium, four seconds behind Lokira. After finishing second at the SEC championship, Kiprop was also named to the All-SEC team.
Freshman Dennis Kipruto claimed the third step on the podium, crossing the line in 29:42.9, rounding out the Alabama 1-2-3 finish. Kipruto was the last Alabama runner to finish in the top 10.
Freshman Evan Trapp, who did not compete in the SEC championship, finished 29th at 30:57.5. Graduate student Jack Hawes, the final Alabama runner to score, finished in 45th place at 31:18.4.
“Our program did an outstanding job today, sweeping the South Regional Championships. To have our men go 1-2-3 — it’s hard to beat a team that does that,” Waters said.
Both teams now head to Wisconsin Saturday to compete for the national title.
