Kansas Jayhawks
Lona Latema - Cross Country - Kansas Jayhawks

Lona Latema

Position Distance
Height 5'6"
Class Senior
Hometown Eldoret, Kenya
High School Eldoret

CAREER RESULTS

2023 OUTDOOR (Jr.)
Began the outdoor season with a personal best in the 3,000 steeple where she finished in 9:57.14 and placed fourth at the Stanford Invitational … Won the 1,500 at the LSU Invitational for finishing in 4:26.15, a personal best for Lona … Placed second in the 1,500 for finishing in 4:29.77 at the Kansas Relays … Achieved a personal best in the 1,500 for finishing in 4:20.26 and placed third at the John McDonnell Invitational … Won the 1,500 for finishing in 4:23.25 at the Rock Chalk Classic … Earned points in both the 3,000 meter steeple and the 5,000 meter, placing second in the steeple (10:17.30) and fifth in the 5,000 meter (16:29.86) at the 2023 Big 12 Outdoor Championships … Ran a new personal best at the West Regional meet, posting a 9:51.76 in the women’s 3k steeple … Qualified for Nationals in doing so, where she took 15th place and earned Second-Team All-American honors in the women’s 3k steeple (9:58.30).

2023 INDOOR (Sr.)
Finished first in both events ran, including the mile (4:50,20) and 3000 (9:47.06) … Finished second in the mile with a time of 4:52.22, finishing second at the Jayhawk Classic … Achieved a personal best in the mile for finishing in 4:49.60 at the Husker Invitational … Won the 3,000 at the Tyson Invitational for finishing in 9:29.37 … Competed in two events at the Big 12 Indoor Championships, finishing seventh in the 3,000 with a time of 9:33.94 and ninth in the 5,000 for finishing in 16:40.19.

2022 CROSS COUNTRY (Jr.)

Started the 2022 season off with a time of 17:28.74 and a first-place finish at the Bob Timmons Classic…With a time of 17:19.0 at the Greeno/Dirksen Invitational, Latema was the first Jayhawk to cross the finish line… Ran a 21:08.3 6k to place 12th overall at the Weis Crockett Invitational…Placed 34th at the Big 12 Championship with a time of 22:11.4 … Ran at the regional meet, where she placed 35th with a 6k time of 20:54.8.

2022 OUTDOOR (Jr.)
Finished second in the 3,000 at the Sun Angel Classic Invitational with a time of 10:26.04 … Finished with a personal best 4:26.19 for 1,500 and finished third at the Sun Angel Classic Invitational … Finished third at the Michael Johnson Invitational with a 4:30.25 1,500 … Finished with a personal best 10:14.78 in the 3,000 steeple and was first at the Drake Relays … Ran a 4:27.90 1500 at the Rock Chalk Classic and finished first … During the Big 12 Championships, she competed in both the 5,000 and 3,000 steeple and finished third for the 5,000 and second for the 3,000 … Finished 15th in the 3,000 steeple at the NCAA West Preliminary Round with a time of 10:16.90.

2022 INDOOR (Jr.)
Finished second at the KU-KSU-WSU Triangular in the 3000 with a time of 9:50.23 … Competed in two events at the Jayhawk Classic and got second in both, 4:57.17 for the mile and 12:17.02 for the relay race … Finished with a personal best mile time of 4:50.04 and finished third in the vent at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational … Finished tenth at the Iowa State Classic in the 3,000, but recorded a personal best time of 9:40.83 … During the Big 12 Indoor Championships, she recorded a personal best 16:37.97 for the 5,000 and finished fifth.

2021 CROSS COUNTRY (Jr.)
Ran a 19:09.4 at the Bob Timmons Classic to open up the season in the 5k … Placed 5th at the Gans Creek Classic with a 21:17.3 6k … Ran a 20:58.6 the following week at the FSU Pre-Nationals meet … Placed 10th at the 2021 Big 12 Cross Country Championships with a 6k time of 21:30.6 … Earned 13th place at Regionals with her 21:04.2 6k … Qualified for Nationals, where she ran a personal best 6k of 20:31.2.

2021 OUTDOOR (So.)
Finished first at the ORU Invite for the 5000 with a time of 17:21.28 … Competed in the 1,500 at the Tom Botts Invitational and finished ninth with a time of 4:32.09 … Finished fifth in the 5000 with a time of 16:55.61 at the Michael Johnson Invitational … Finished fifth in the 5000 again, but this time at the John McDonnell Invitations.

2021 INDOOR (So.)
Finished sixth at the KU-KSU-WSU Triangular with a time of 10:39.08 in the 3000 … Competed in the mile at the Jayhawk Classic and got sixth with a time of 10:39.08 … Finished first in the 3000 with a time of 9:48.00 at the Iowa State Classic … At the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships, she got top 10 in both events competed in, 9:59.60 in the 3000 and 17:31.30 in the 5000.

2020 CROSS COUNTRY (So.)
Crossed the finish line at Rim Rock Farm as the second Jayhawk, and in 12th place overall, with her 5K time of 18:59.0 in the season-opening Bob Timmons Classic (9/19) … For the second-straight meet, was the second Kansas runner to finish the 6K at the OSU Cross Country Course … Placed 18th overall individually at the Cowboy Jamboree (10/3) in 22:19.9 … Took 14th at the Big 12 Championship, running a 21:30.2 in the 6k.

2019 INDOOR (Fr.)
Finished sixth in the 3000 with a time of 10:39.08 at the KU-KSU-WSU Triangular.

2019 CROSS COUNTRY (Fr.)
Opened the season with a 13th-place finish at the Rim Rock Collegiate Classic with a time of 24:14.2 for her 6K … At the Pre-National Invitational (10/19), crossed the finish line in 22:38.6 to place 219th among a field of 252 of some of the best runners in the nation in the Women’s 6K Blue Race … The Jayhawks’ second runner to cross the finish line at the Big 12 Championship (11/2) … Her 6K time of 21:54.7 placed her 35th individually, while the women’s team ran to a sixth-place finish … Crossed the finish line first for the Kansas women at the NCAA Division I Midwest Region Cross Country Championships (11/15), running the 6K course in 22:00.5 … Her time placed her just outside of the top-50 runners, coming in 54th overall … The women’s team finished in 17th place in a field of 33 teams.

PERSONAL
Daughter of Joseph Latema and Alice Chepkoech … Has six siblings, three brothers and three sisters … Plans to major in accounting.

Track & Field 👟 Kansas Reclaims KU-KSU-WSU Triangular Title with Dominating Performance Friday

Kansas track & field kicked off its 2023 schedule with a dominating performance at the KU-KSU-WSU Triangular in Topeka, Kansas on Friday, where the Jayhawks scored 268 points to reclaim the KU-KSU-WSU Triangular title.

Cross Country 👟 Kansas Men Come Out on Top at the Bob Timmons Classic

Kansas cross country opened its 2022 season at the Bob Timmons Classic at Rim Rock Farms on Saturday, where junior Chandler Gibbens led the Kansas men to a first place finish with 22 points, while the Jayhawk women finished second with 43 points.

Track & Field 👟 Lona Latema Wins 3,000-Meter Steeplechase at the 112th Drake Relays

University of Kansas sophomore Lona Latema won the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 112th Drake Relays on Thursday, running a personal best time of 10:14.78.

Cross Country Lona Latema: Ready for Nationals

My mother once told me, "You can't succeed when you can't even trust yourself." I can't think of any truer words with the NCAA Championships just a few hours away.