Cross Country Prepares for Big 12 Championships

Oct. 26, 2004

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Head coach Stanley Redwine and the Kansas cross country team will travel to Topeka Saturday to compete in the Big 12 Championships. The Jayhawks will look to improve on last year’s fourth (men) and tenth (women) place finishes from a year ago.

The men’s team will be led by sophomore Benson Chesang. Chesang is coming off a third place finish at the NCAA Pre-National meet on Oct. 16. Chesang was KU’s top finisher a year ago at the Big 12 meet placing 11th in the 8k race with a time of 25:05.90. The Jayhawks will also look for good finishes from senior Chris Jones, the winner of the Bob Timmons Invitational, and sophomore Tyler Kelly who has ran well this year.

The KU women’s team will be led by senior Megan Manthe who is the top returning runner from last year’s Big 12 meet. Manthe finished 42nd in last year’s meet. Freshman Connie Abbott and sophomore Laura Major will also look to score points for the Jayhawks. Abbott has had an impressive first year at KU finishing 12th at the Kansas State Invitational and as the top Kansas finisher at the Pre-Nationals.

“We are looking forward to competing at the Big 12 Championships,” head coach Stanley Redwine said. “We are rested and ready to compete and our goal is to finish higher than we did a year ago.”

The women’s 6k race will begin at 10 a.m. followed by the men’s 8k race at 11 a.m.