Texas Tech’s Lillian Badaru was comfortable running with the pack through the first two miles at Oklahoma State’s Cowboy Jamboree earlier this month. As she noticed players dropping from the group, though, she decided to make her move.

“The other girls, they started dying, and I thought I could move ahead,” Badaru said. “I just took off running.”

One year ago, Badaru found herself the perpetual runner-up, regularly finishing races in second place behind teammate Sally Kipyego; her strong times helped Tech round out the 2008 season as Big 12 champions and in seventh place at the national championships, but Kipyego always finished first individually. Now that Kipyego has graduated, however, Badaru is poised to lead Tech through this year’s postseason, which begins with this weekend’s Big 12 Championships in Columbia, Mo.

“We haven’t really been pushed yet,” coach Jon Murray said. “We can say, ‘hey, we’re actually running against someone who’s supposedly better than us. Let’s go see what will happen.’ ”

Tech seemed to glide through 2008, thanks in large part to Kipyego’s dominance. She made NCAA history as the first woman in Division I to win three consecutive national championships. She won every meet she entered as a sophomore, junior and senior.

Without her this season, Murray says the Raiders have gone underrated. The team has slowly risen through the rankings, and now sits at No. 17 nationally.

Badaru is largely responsible for the recognition Tech does receive. The junior from Uganda, by way of South Plains College, has become the team’s best asset. She won her second consecutive individual title at the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark., on Oct. 17 and was second at the Texas Tech Open in September.

Tech also brought in a strong recruiting class this season, which has helped the Raiders remain among the nation’s best teams. Purity Biwott and Caroline Karunde were NAIA All-Americans at Wayland Baptist, while Winrose Karunde, Caroline’s twin sister, was a two-time Division II national champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 10,000-meter races.

“Our overall team is better than I think we were last year, from No. 1 down to No. 6,” Murray said. “Our sixth runner was all-conference last year. That’s very exciting.”

The Big 12 meet will bring the Raiders against their toughest competition this season. Two exceptional athletes – Colorado’s Jenny Barringer and Iowa State’s Lisa Koll – return after redshirting last year and are expected to help their teams dominate the meet.

Colorado is ranked third nationally, with Iowa State 19th and Baylor 26th.

But Badaru said the Raiders have something to prove to naysayers who may not believe their new depth is enough to replace the dominant athlete they lost.

“We want to show them we can also do it,” Badaru said. “We want to show them we can do it as a team. We want to defend our title.”

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