Women’s Team Sweeps the Podium, Men’s Team Places Second at Bob Timmons Classic

Saturday, August 30

Lawrence, Kan.

University of Kansas

Bob Timmons Classic

Photo by: University of Kansas Athletics

Women’s Team Sweeps the Podium, Men’s Team Places Second at Bob Timmons Classic

8/30/2025 12:55:00 PM | Cross Country

Men's 6K Results Women's 5K Results

Lawrence, Kan. — The Kansas Cross Country teams began their seasons strong on Saturday, with the women's team taking home gold and the men's team placing second at the Bob Timmons Classic.
The women were led by senior Tori Wingrove, and sophomores Emmaculate Jemutai and Kaitlyn Swartz, who swept the podium to propel Kansas to a dominating win. Sophomore Ryo Higuchi led the way for the men, placing fourth individually.

"It's an exciting start to the season," Wingrove said when asked about the race. "We have conference here so it's exciting that we'll be back in October…but it's a good start and I think we're excited to start attacking the rest of the season."

After finishing fourth at last season's Bob Timmons Classic, Tori Wingrove (17:56.0) beat out Emmaculate Jemutai (18:09.6) by an impressive 13.6 seconds to win her first race. Kaitlyn Swartz rounded out the top three in 18:12.9, a full 15 seconds before fourth place.

"Her maturity showed today, because she ran the race plan to a T and was able to execute really well late in the race and take down a heck of a competitor in Emma," Kansas coach Michael Whittlesey said when asked about Wingrove. "I'm very happy to see where she is at."

For the women, the top three were followed by sophomore Mia Murray and junior Olivia Krueger who placed sixth and seventh, respectively. The Jayhawks top five finished the day with an astonishing 19 points, only four off from a perfect score. Oral Roberts came in second in the women's team scores with 53, 34 points behind Kansas.

"The rest of the crew did a great job of executing the team race plan and I thought they ran well together through the entire race. I thought their focus and competitiveness was dead on point," Whittlesey added.

On the men's side, Ryo Higuchi finished with a new 6K personal best time of 18:30.4 to place fourth overall. He was followed by sophomore Hobbs Campbell, freshman Parker Walion and sophomore Lenny Njoroge who placed fifth through seventh in that order. Freshman Andrew Schumacher rounded out the top five for the Jayhawks, finishing ninth. Alongside Higuchi, Lenny Njoroge also ran a new personal best 6K, finishing in 18:57.7.

"In the early part [of the race] we reacted to the race when I wanted to be a little bit more controlled," Whittlesey said. "It would have kept our group together a little longer and I think we would've executed later a bit better, but I thought their focus overall was really, really good…they ran well. I'm happy where both teams are from a training perspective."

The men's team narrowly lost to Oral Roberts, 31-29, to place second as a team at the event.

Kansas Head Coach Stanley Redwine was also pleased with his team's first race.

"I was impressed with both the men and women. I thought our men ran competitively. Oral Roberts did a great job today… but we have work to do and I think we'll get there," Redwine said. "The women did an awesome job. Emma is great; she just started off where she finished out last year. She's continuously done well and I am looking forward to her doing great things."

"It's just fun to watch how [the teams] come together and do a great job. Coach Whitt is obviously doing an awesome job…I think the teams will be really good and we're looking forward to it," Redwine concluded.

UP NEXT:
Kansas will have about a four week break before traveling to compete in the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Missouri. The Gans Creek Classic is set to take place on Friday, September 26th at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course with the men set to begin at 8 a.m. and the women at 8:45 a.m.