Kansas Men’s Cross Country Places Top Five, Women’s Team Finishes 11th at Big 12 Championships

Friday, October 31

Lawrence, Kan.

Men: 10:00 AM | Women: 11:00 AM

University of Kansas

Big 12 Championship

LAWRENCE, KS - October 31, 2025 - Paul Ngasharr and Reagan Kibet during the Big 12 Cross Country Championship in Lawrence, KS. Photo by Jordyn Pennington/Kansas Athletics

Photo by: Jordyn Pennington/Kansas Athletics

Kansas Men’s Cross Country Places Top Five, Women’s Team Finishes 11th at Big 12 Championships

10/31/2025 4:16:00 PM | Cross Country

Big 12 Championships Women's 6K Results Big 12 Championships Men's 8K Results Photo Gallery

LAWRENCE, Kan. — The Kansas Cross Country teams hosted some of the top programs in the country for the Big 12 Championships on Friday, with the men's team placing 5th and the women's team finishing 11th at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence, Kansas.

The men's team ran well throughout the race, relying on each other and sticking to the race plan well. "They had that total team effort. Coach Whitt did a really good job, I felt, and it was just great to see. We beat some really good teams, and we'll continue to work for the teams that were ahead of us. But it was a great day for all of our athletes." Kansas head coach Stanley Redwine said after the race.

The men's race kicked off the morning in a loaded field comprised of #1 Iowa State, #2 Oklahoma State, #5 Colorado and #8 BYU, as well as six other USTFCCCA regionally ranked teams. Kansas finished fifth overall with 171 points, losing to the four top ten-ranked teams but beating sixth-place Texas Tech by 20 after shaving off 21 points from them during the final kilometer. The women finished in 11th, led by Emmah Jemutai who set a personal best 6K time to finish 25th overall.

The men started off strong, with Reagan Kibet, Paul Ngasharr and Tanner Talley running with the leaders, while the other seven Jayhawk runners held the pace as a group. The Jayhawks ran consistently throughout the race, with the lead group around the late 30s place mark with the pack pushing the mid 50s.

At the seven-kilometer mark, Kansas found another gear, choosing to attack the final uphill kilometer and climb the leaderboard. Over the final kilometer, the Jayhawks' top five runners moved up 23 places and shaved off 18 points.

"We knew it was going to come down to the end, and we knew everyone was going to be worried about the Billy Mills' ascent, which is a monster, but the last kilometer still goes uphill." assistant head cross country coach Michael Whittlesey said. "We knew we just needed to stay close to people, and we practiced a lot on that last kilometer all year long. The focus was, let's see what we got, and they just did a tremendous job on that last part of the race."

Reagan Kibet and Paul Ngasharr were the first finishers across the line for Kansas with both finishing in 23:41.7 to place 26th (25 points) and 27th (26 points). Tanner Talley joined them shortly after in 35th place (33) with a time of 23:53.3. All three set personal best 8K times to propel the Jayhawks up the standings.

Kansas' fourth finisher was Ryo Higuchi in 24:28.1 to place 45th (40), before Quenton Walion crossed the line in 24:43.2 to earn 54th (47) to round out a completely sub-25-minute top five for Kansas.

Parker Walion and Andrew Schumacher were next to finish in 56th (48) and 59th (51), with Schumacher setting a personal best 24:56.4 8K time.

Sawyer Schmidt, Hobbs Campbell and Lenny Njoroge closed out the Kansas runners in 65th, 70th and 81st, respectively.

On the women's side, Emmah Jemutai led the entire way for the Jayhawks. Jemutai broke off immediately for a fast start, running in 15th place through the first four kilometers. At the 5 kilometer mark, Jemutai had dropped to 24th, but closed the race strongly to place 25th and earn a team low 24 points with her new personal best 6K time of 20:14.3.

"She battled back really, really well in the last 600-800 meters," Whittlesey said. "She's got a bright future in cross country, and we know what she can do on the track. I thought she did a tremendous job."

Jemutai was trailed by Kaitlyn Swartz, who finished second for Kansas in 71st place (60) with a time of 21:58.6. Mia Murray was the third Jayhawk to finish with her new personal best time of 22:27.2. Murray climbed 11 spots from the 3 kilometer mark onwards to finish 91st (76).

Two freshmen rounded out the top five, with Naomi Hunter and Abby O'Leary finishing in 111th (92) and 118th (96) place.

"The women really gave him everything they had today. You can just appreciate the effort that they put forth today." Whittlesey said.

The Kansas women's team placed 11th out of 16 teams with 348 points. No. 1 BYU ran away with the title, accumulating only 38 points, while freshman Jane Hedengren won by an astounding 44.7 seconds.

The top-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys won on the men's side with only 20 points, with finishers in first, second, fourth, sixth and seventh place. Brian Masau won his third straight Big 12 Championship race.

"I just think, if you're a distance runner and you love cross country, there was not a better place today, perfect temperature, perfect conditions," Redwine concluded. "Everyone did a great job of preparing the course, and Tim Byers, our meet director, did a great job. Everyone had a great time."

UP NEXT:
Kansas will travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to compete in the NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday, November 14th. The women's 6K is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m., with the men's 10K beginning at 11:30 a.m. More information can be found here.