👟 Jayhawks Strong in Season Opening Bob Timmons Classic on Saturday
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas men’s and women’s cross country teams opened their seasons at the Bob Timmons Classic on Saturday at Rim Rock Farm, which featured T.J. Robinson and Sommer Herner finishing as the top collegians in their respective races.
“It was great to get the team back out here and see the support from fans,” Coach Michael Whittlesey said following the meet. “We had a plan to run as a team and I think we will continue to focus on doing that and getting better.”
The meet kicked off with the men’s race at 9 a.m., where the Jayhawks focused on running as a unit. With a mix of athletes competing for KU, as well as unattached, freshman Cale Litrell finished first overall with a time of 19:56.94. Kansas freshman TJ Robinson finished as the top Jayhawk in uniform with a time of 2:00.54.
In addition to Robinson, sophomore Sam Hubert (3rd, 20:07.41) and Michael Ronzone (7th, 20:23.78) each finished in the top-10 individually.
As a team, the Kansas men won the meet with 17 points, followed by Kansas City with 51 points and Oral Roberts with 53 points.
Following the men’s race, it was the women’s turn to run the 5k through Rim Rock Farm, where junior Sommer Herner got out strong from the start and never looked back. Herner went on to finish the race as the top finisher with a time of 18:33.3.
In addition to Herner’s winning time, sophomore Avyrl Johnson (3rd, 19:53.4), Lona Latema (4th, 19:09.5), Caroline Burrow (6th, 19:46.0), Ally Ryan (7th, 20:03.1), Kenadi Krueger (8th, 20:14.80), and Faten Laribi (9th, 20:22.10) all finished in the top-10 overall.
The Kansas women took the top spot as a team, finishing with 21 points, followed by Kansas City’s 40 points.
The Jayhawks will be back in action on October 1, when they travel to Columbia, Missouri for the Gans Creek Classic.
