Sophomore Doris Lemngole won the individual NCAA national title at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wisconsin. The women’s team earned a top-10 finish, while the men’s earned a top-20 finish.
Women’s
The women’s team finished 10th overall with 293 points.
“Our women did a wonderful job today under [assistant coach Nick Stenuf’s] guidance, earning our third top-10 finish in as many seasons,” head coach Dan Waters said.
Lemngole crossed the finish line in 19:21.0 minutes, securing the individual title. She finished six seconds ahead of New Mexico’s Pamela Kosgei.
Lemngole was named Women’s SEC Runner of the Year after finishing in the top two in all her races this season.
“What an amazing performance by Doris. It was a phenomenal run and race strategy down the stretch to pull away and win her first cross country national title,” Waters said.
Waters was named the SEC women’s coach of the year after leading the team to its fifth consecutive national championship appearance.
Sophomore Brenda Tuwei finished 29th overall, crossing the line in 19:58.8 minutes.
Freshmen Addison Dorenkamp and Pheline Mining crossed the finish line together in 86th (20:28.3) and 87th (20:28.4), respectively.
Alabama’s final scoring runner, junior Lilly Walters, finished in 177th place. Walters ran a 21:00.5 minute 6k.
The women’s team has earned a top-15 finish five years in a row.
Men’s
The men’s team finished its season by placing 18th at the meet and scoring 467 points.
Freshman Dismus Lokira was the first Alabama runner to cross the line, finishing 41st overall and running a 29:25.0 in the 10k race.
Lokira was named men’s SEC Freshman of the Year after leading the men’s team to its third NCAA national championship appearance in four years. He headed the men’s 1-2-3 finish in the NCAA South Regionals.
Senior Victor Kiprop finished 51st, running 29:33.9. Kiprop’s performance was drastically different from the previous race, where he finished second on the podium. Sophomore Dennis Kipruto came in next, finishing 75th; Kipruto was on the third step of the podium in the last meet.
Finishing up for the Crimson Tide’s scoring runners was Senior Hillary Cheruiyot, who crossed the line in 30:43.1 minutes, placing 193rd overall, and senior Husdon Hurst finishing 196th after running a 30:44.7 in the 10k.
After sweeping the NCAA Southern Regionals, the team struggled in the cold of Wisconsin. The Alabama cross country Instagram account posted pictures of the team practicing in the snow two days before the race.
“On the men’s side, we posted our 12th top-20 finish in program history, but if we’d been more aggressive as a whole, we could have finished even higher,” Waters said.
The cross country season has ended, and the beginning of the track and field season in the spring has been set. The schedule has not yet been released.
