Lokedi chases history as Kansas runs at Big 12 Championship

Big 12 Championship
  Oct. 26, 2018
  Ames, Iowa
  ISU Cross Country Course
  Meet Central
  Live Stream
  Live Results

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas cross country is set to race at the 2018 Big 12 Cross Country Championship on Friday, Oct. 26 at the ISU Cross Country Course in Ames, Iowa. The women’s 6K race will kick things off at 10 a.m., with the men’s 8K race following at 11 a.m.
 
“I think our teams are really ready for this weekend,” assistant coach Michael Whittlesey said. “They have been really focused the last couple of weeks, especially over the past several days. I think their mindset is in the right position and physically I think we are in a great spot.”
 
Senior Sharon Lokedi will look to become just the second woman and third overall runner to win three-straight Big 12 titles after running to victories in 2016 and 2017.
 
“Really, she needs to not worry about [winning her third title] and just worry about executing her race,” Whittlesey said. “If she does that, then whatever unfolds will unfold. But as long as has the right mindset and competitive focus, she should be able to take care of business.”
 
“We try to not focus on the outcome, we try to focus on the process,” head coach Stanley Redwine said. “If Sharon runs like she is capable of running, the results will take care of themselves.”
 
Jorge Torres of Colorado was the first runner to achieve a 3-peat at the Big 12 Championship, winning back-to-back-to-back titles from 2000-2002. Texas Tech’s Sally Kipyego would later become the first woman to achieve the feat from 2006-08.
 
The last time Kansas won three-straight Big 12 cross country individual titles was from 2004-06. Benson Chesang won back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005 and Colby Wissel kept the KU streak going with a victory in 2006. Eight Kansas men’s runners have won multiple conference titles in the history of the program, but there has yet to be a Jayhawk runner win three.
 
Last season, Lokedi’s individual title led to a sixth-place finish for the Jayhawk women at the Big 12 Championship, while the Kansas men placed seventh among the conference competition.
 
Kansas will next travel to Peoria, Illinois for the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships on Friday, Nov. 9. The races are set to begin at 10:30 a.m. at the Newman Golf Course.  
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