Sally Kipyego, the only woman to win three consecutive NCAA Division I cross country championships, might be the most accomplished student-athlete in Texas Tech history.

In their first year without her, though, the Lady Raiders have managed just fine.

Tech, the ninth-ranked women’s team in the nation this season, is headed back to the NCAA Cross Country Championships for the fourth year in a row. The Lady Raiders will compete in Terre Haute, Ind., at 11:58 a.m. CST Monday.

“Since Sally left, most people thought Tech was not going to be on top anymore,” said Tech senior Lillian Badaru, who finished 18th at last year’s national meet. “But after getting all these other girls, and how we train and everything, we made it. We all worked harder.”

According to Tech head coach Jon Murray, this year’s team might even be better than the ones anchored by Kipyego. The Lady Raiders have five victories and a runner-up finish in six meets this year, and three of their runners — Badaru, Purity Biwott and Caroline Karunde — have finished among the top 10 in every one of them.

Gladys Kipsang has added four top-10 finishes for Tech, and Winrose Karunde has been among the top 15 four times.

“I think this is probably the best team that I’ve had one to five or one to seven, the fastest we’ve had as a group,” said Murray, in his fifth season with the program. “I think they have the potential to do better than any other team that we’ve had go to nationals.”

Tech’s best finish at the NCAA meet was sixth in 2006, and Badaru and Caroline Karunde said this year’s squad has its sights set on a top-five performance. Murray said his goal is the top four, which would earn the
Lady Raiders a trophy.

Murray said the Lady Raiders also have a little extra motivation after finishing second to Colorado at the NCAA Mountain Regional on Nov. 14.
Tech had beaten Colorado at the Big 12 Conference meet, winning its second consecutive league title, and it was the first time all season the Lady Raiders didn’t win.

If everything falls into place on Monday, Murray said there’s a chance Tech could win again — and capture the program’s first national championship.

“You never know,” he said. “It’s five scoring runners, so if just one goes
down or two go down, anything can happen. It’s a very close competition, so it can go either way on that. If they all run fantastic races, you just never know what will happen.”

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