Nov. 1, 2008

The No. 12 Texas Tech Lady Raiders won their first Big 12 cross country championship in impressive fashion behind senior Sally Kipyego's third-straight Big 12 title today in Ames, Iowa.

The Lady Raiders scored 42 points to win the event with four student-athletes being named to the All-Big 12 team. The top five Lady Raiders all finished in the top 20. Baylor finished in second with 71 points and Nebraska was third with 102.

"It was an outstanding team race for the ladies and we had a few pick it up when one went down and the race was a total team effort to win," head coach Jon Murray said after the race.

Kipyego ran the 6K course in a record time of 19:45.00 to become the first female student-athlete to win three-straight Big 12 cross country championships.

"Sally's race was a classic Sally race and from the beginning she was by herself up front and she ran extremely well. It's a testament to the dominance she has had in Big 12 cross country," said Murray.

Junior Lillian Badaru earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors for finishing in second place overall with a time of 20:36.75. She also was named to the Big 12 All-Conference team. Senior Asia Diaz crossed the line in 21:24 in eighth to earn her first All-Big 12 honor.

"Lillian, what can you say, Big 12 Newcomer of the Year award winner just came in from the beginning and supported the team and has ran very strong as the second runner," Murray stated. "Asia and Micehlle getting all-conference for the first time was great and they really picked it up during the race."

Sophomore Michelle Guzman placed 14th, earning all-conference honors, with a time of 21:38.10. Junior Gladys Kipsang ran a time of 21:50.25 to finish in 19th place.

The men's squad finish ninth in a tough field that included No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 17 Colorado, No. 18 Texas A&M , No. 22 Iowa State and No. 30 Texas.

Sophomore Gilbert Limo earned his first all-conference honors finishing 12th with a time of 24:39.98. Sophomore Logan Culotta improved on his finish from last season as he ran a time of 26:12.73 to place 56th.

"It's great to have another all-conference runner and it's good for the program to consistently have conference runners, and we are anticipating good things with such a young group and the experience they are receiving and we expect good things in the years to come," stated Murray.

Sophomore Nathan Milles ran a time of 26:32.98 to place 61st in his first Big 12 championship meet. Junior Cory Higgins was just a second behind Milles in 62nd place with a time of 26:33.73. Two spots behind was junior Jake Szot who ran a time of 26:39.18 to place 64th.

Texas Tech has now won nine team Big 12 championships. The titles include women's basketball (1998 - regular, postseason, 1999 - regular, postseason, 2000 - regular), baseball (1997 - regular, 1998 - postseason), men's outdoor track (2005) and women's cross country (2008).

Tech's next race will be in two weeks on Nov. 15, at the Mountain Regional Championships in Fort Collins, Colo.