Jayhawks Sweep Bob Timmons Classic to Begin 2026 Season

Saturday, September 5

Lawrence, Kan.

Men's 6K: 8:00 AM | Women's 6K: 8:45 AM

University of Kansas

Bob Timmons Classic

Photo by: Arun Halder/Kansas Athletics

Jayhawks Sweep Bob Timmons Classic to Begin 2026 Season

9/5/2026 11:36:00 AM | Cross Country

Kansas Results ONLY Full Women's 5K Results Full Men's 6K Results Photo Gallery

LAWRENCE, Kan. — The Kansas cross country teams began their seasons strong on Saturday, with both the women's and men's teams taking home gold at the Bob Timmons Classic at Rim Rock Farm with 31 and 24 points, respectively.

The men's team was led by sophomore Paul Ngasharr who pushed the pace and finished second in the race, while Irine Jepkirui led the women's team and finished first overall, followed shortly after by Jael Cherotich.

"For the men, I thought we did a really good job and went two through five finishing," Kansas assistant head coach Michael Whittlesey said. "One of the things we really talked about was getting together and running together, and our front two did a great job running in a pair. The next two then paired up which is what the race dictated, and I was pleased by that. I thought they did a really nice job, especially Paul in his first race back and it was great having him back in a jersey…I thought the guys did a really really good job."

The men kicked off the season with the 6K race, looking to win the event after finishing second as a team behind Oral Roberts last season. While Oral Roberts' Abraham Chelangam defended his title, he was pushed the entire race by Ngasharr, running side by side. Ngasharr crossed the finish line with a personal best 6K time of 18:00.8 in his first race back.

Shortly after Ngasharr finished, junior Barnabas Ndiwa finished his first cross country race as a Jayhawk in third place, finishing in a time of 18:19.2. He was followed by Blake Wohler and Sam Trumble, achieving 4th and 5th place overall and both running personal best times of 18:22.8 and 18:28.5.

Newcomer Carter Cline rounded out the top five finishers for the Jayhawks, setting a personal best 6K with a time of 18:48.7 to place 10th. Following Cline, Sawyer Schmidt placed 11th, Hobbs Campbell achieved 13th, Andrew Schumacher finished 15th, Parker Walion placed 21st, Ryan Whittlesey finished 27th, Nate Thengvall achieved 30th and Lenny Njoroge crossed the line in 41st to round out the Jayhawks.

The Jayhawks won the meet with 24 points, 33 points better than second place CSU-Pueblo, while Oral Roberts took third with 70 points.

For the women, Jepkirui led the charge, running side by side with Cherotich for the first four kilometers before pulling away and winning the race in a personal best 17:19.6. Cheortich followed her in her first collegiate race, achieving second place with a time of 17:46.9.

"On the women's side we again went with pairs and the front two did a great job working together," Whittlesey said. "Irine did a great job pulling away down the final kilometer and she has worked super hard to get back into condition and has done a great job with preparing herself to race, so I am super excited about where she is at…with the heat the team did a really good job with competitive focus and our young girls did great bringing up our scoring in the end."

Sophomore Naomi Hunter was the third Jayhawk across the line, running a new personal best time of 18:45.6 to place fifth. Hunter was followed by freshman Madelyn Wallace in 11th and Freshman Malaika McLeod in 14th, both running their first collegiate races.

Sydney Owens placed 15th for Kansas while running a personal best 5K time and Bethany Druse rounded out Kansas in 25th.

The women won their third straight Bob Timmons Classic, scoring 31 points and defeating second place CSU-Pueblo by 13 points. Rockhurst achieved third place with 69 points.

"As we move forward it is going to be great to get the whole group back running together. This group has a great chemistry and we have great expectations as to where we can go. I am happy with where we are at, but we will continue to build to get stronger and more fit and we are going to continue approaching things with the mindset that we are only as strong as our weakest runner and we need to continue to push towards the front," Whittlesey concluded.

UP NEXT:
Kansas will have about a three week break before traveling to compete in the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Missouri on Friday, Sept. 25. More information, including a meet preview and live results link will be posted closer to the meet date on kuathletics.com.