VERONA, WISCONSIN, November 25 — Alabama soph Doris Lemngole sprinted away from New Mexico frosh Pamela Kosgei and Florida junior Hilda Olemomoi as the trio of top-notch Kenyan recruits swept the podium in the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Lemngole, who had finished 2nd to Parker Valby in last year’s chase, exclaimed, “I feel so good today, I was able to do my best and be a national champion.”
Moving up was the theme of the day as the BYU women’s squad pushed forward throughout the race and moved on from last year’s devastating 14th place in spectacular fashion to take the team title with 147 points. West Virginia (164), Providence (183) and Northern Arizona (206) claimed the other three trophies, finishing just ahead of Oregon (210) and Stanford (214).
“Everybody did their part today,” BYU coach Diljeet Taylor said of her squad. “Every single one of those women had a phenomenal race where they were moving forward — forward momentum, that’s crucial.”
This late November Championships featured much more seasonal weather than the balmy Nutty and Pre-Nats races over the bone-dry Zimmer National 6040m layout. A bit of snow and rain on Thursday left the course somewhat soft and muddy, and with temperatures in the high 30s the early pace lagged well behind Kosgei’s 18:59.1 course record clip.
Following a robust sprint over the opening downhill 800m, a large lead group settled into a more cautious pace as the free-flowing route rolled over prairie fields and up a pair of wooded hills.
The opening 2K was covered in 6:34.6, 12 seconds slower than Pre-Nats, such that the Kenyan trio had plenty of company with Stanford’s Amy Bunnage, the North Carolina State soph duo of Grace Hartman and Hannah Gapes, and West Virginia’s Ceili McCabe with frosh teammate Joy Naukot in tow.
Passing 4040m in 13:19.1 — a full 30 seconds slower than the Pre-Nats 12:49.0 split, 18 runners remained in the bulbous lead pack, and with 2K to go Lemngole took control.
“My first 3K, I felt so good with the pace,” said the eventual winner, “and when I crossed the 4K line I thought I have to push the pace and go my own way, and I did it.”
Leaning into a downhill stretch, Lemngole soon drew the contenders to the front. The pack was down to 10 after reaching the course low point 1400m out, and with the…
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