Naimadu Classic Results
ABILENE – Junior
Carnley Graham and freshman
Kevin Kipkosgei Saturday were the individual winners at Abilene Christian's annual Naimadu Classic. Graham won the Casi Florida 6K in 22:29.2 and Kipkosgei – a native of Eldoret, Kenya – won the Alfred Rugema 8K in 26:26.23 in his Wildcat debut.
"I was pleased with Kevin's first race for ACU," said head cross country coach
Jarvis Jelen. "He was very relaxed throughout and had a lot left in the tank. I expect him to be able to step it up another couple notches when he faces tougher competition in the upcoming meets.
"(and) Carnley has picked up right where she left off last XC season. She is in very good shape and will be a great leader for our team this year. I'm looking forward to seeing her rise to the challenge when she has people pushing her in the upcoming races."
Graham won her race by 1:20.2 and the closest competitor to Kipkosgei (Texas Tech's Stephen Alvarez) finished 9.1 seconds behind him.
Today's race was composed of 86 runners (41 women, 45 men) from five schools, including Texas Tech, Angelo State, Ranger College and UT Permian Basin. The Red Raiders were victorious in both team standings, collecting 28 points on the men's side and 27 in the women's race – edging the Wildcats by three points.
The Texas Tech women claimed the second and third places (Ariana Lopez and Bret Leigh Nance) in addition to the fifth (Jazmyn Martinez), eighth (Kaitlyn Tharp) and ninth (Natalie Parks) positions, while the Wildcats finished behind Graham in fourth (
Hannah Marut - 24:11.2), sixth (
Sarah Wagler - 24:18.1), seventh (
Briahna Gerlach - 24:26.6) and 12th (
Soren Underwood - 24:57.6).
ACU's men's team scored 68 points to place third behind Ranger (56) and Texas Tech (28). Following Kipkosgei to the finish line were ACU freshman
Levi Chambers (8th, 27:01.7), senior
Travis Nichols (18th, 28:09.0), and freshmen
Colton Gates (22nd, 28:32.3) and
Grant O'Neil (25th, 29:10.6).
The Red Raiders and Wildcats will clash again in less than two weeks on Friday, Sept. 14 at the Texas Tech Open.
