The women's team is coming off two great seasons, the greatest seasons in Tech XC history. That is not surprising, since Sally Kipyego was the lead Tech runner for the past 3 XC seasons and she was arguably the greatest female collegiate runner of all time!
The challenge now is to replace her and as I noted in an earlier post about the 2010 track season, Tech will try to replace her with three seasoned college runners who are transferring to Lubbock. Only one of the transfers, Caroline Karunde (transfer from Wayland), appears on the current Tech roster. My guess for her inclusion is because she was enrolled this summer. The other two transfers (Purity Biwott from Wayland and Winrose Karunde from ACU) are also from 4-year schools, so probably won't be listed on the roster until they are officially enrolled this fall. All three of these women have been national champions in XC or on the track at the NCAA D-II or NAIA level. All three have run and excelled against D-I competition at venues such as the Penn Relays, Texas Relays and at Tech indoor meets. They will help this team immensely.
Tech returns 5 runners from last year's top 10 - Lillian Badaru (2nd at the Big 12 meet to Sally K), Michelle Guzman (14th and All-Conference as a sophomore), Gladys Kipsang (19th at conference, but bounced back to finish 8th at the Mountain West Regional meet), Katherine Priebe and Kayla Sayegh. Another returnee I expect to see improve dramatically is Kaci Westervelt, who emerged last spring as a legit D-I runner and who, as a redshirt freshman, got to run at both the indoor and outdoor conference track meet. Plus, halfmilers Kearci Jobe and Shannon Jackson had strong seasons on the track (Jobe placed 9th in the Big 12 800 and Jackson qualified for the regional meet.
The new kids include:
Purity Biwott - 5th at the NAIA XC meet and a double winner in the 800 and 1500 at the NAIA outdoor track meet
Caroline Karunde - 6th at the NAIA XC meet and the NAIA national champ in 2008 in the 10K
Winrose Karunde - 1st in the D-II XC meet in 2007 and the D-II national champ in the steeple and the 10K in 2008 (injured most of 2008-2009, but still finished 5th in the D-II 5K in 2009)
Meagan Willingham - from Ballinger and South Plains - a solid addition to the team who finished 36th at the JC national XC meet. Should add quality depth
I will try to GUESS at a top 10 list, but it is tough. I think that Lillian Badaru runs #1 all year, but #2-6 will trade places all year and all are capable of finishing in the top 20 at conference and Tech will be tough to beat if the Red Raiders put 6 women into the top 20! There is a lot of parity in the next 6 as well, so I have fudged a bit and actually have 12 in my top 10 (a mathematical oxymoron):
1) Lillian Badaru
2) Purity Biwott
3) Gladys Kipsang
4) Caroline Karunde
5) Michelle Guzman
6) Winrose Karunde
7) Meagan Willingham
8) Kaci Westervelt
9) Katherine Priebe/Kayla Sayegh
10) Shannon Jackson/Kearci Jobe
If for some reason, Winnie Karunde and Purity Biwott have problems with their transfer, Tech is still a good team with the top 4 being very strong and 5-6 women fighting for that all-important 5th spot (only the top 5 finishers count toward team points at the conference meet). However, I fully expect to see the full Red Raider team run from the first meet and if everyone runs, this is a definite conference contender and is the best collegiate XC team in Texas.
The challenge now is to replace her and as I noted in an earlier post about the 2010 track season, Tech will try to replace her with three seasoned college runners who are transferring to Lubbock. Only one of the transfers, Caroline Karunde (transfer from Wayland), appears on the current Tech roster. My guess for her inclusion is because she was enrolled this summer. The other two transfers (Purity Biwott from Wayland and Winrose Karunde from ACU) are also from 4-year schools, so probably won't be listed on the roster until they are officially enrolled this fall. All three of these women have been national champions in XC or on the track at the NCAA D-II or NAIA level. All three have run and excelled against D-I competition at venues such as the Penn Relays, Texas Relays and at Tech indoor meets. They will help this team immensely.
Tech returns 5 runners from last year's top 10 - Lillian Badaru (2nd at the Big 12 meet to Sally K), Michelle Guzman (14th and All-Conference as a sophomore), Gladys Kipsang (19th at conference, but bounced back to finish 8th at the Mountain West Regional meet), Katherine Priebe and Kayla Sayegh. Another returnee I expect to see improve dramatically is Kaci Westervelt, who emerged last spring as a legit D-I runner and who, as a redshirt freshman, got to run at both the indoor and outdoor conference track meet. Plus, halfmilers Kearci Jobe and Shannon Jackson had strong seasons on the track (Jobe placed 9th in the Big 12 800 and Jackson qualified for the regional meet.
The new kids include:
Purity Biwott - 5th at the NAIA XC meet and a double winner in the 800 and 1500 at the NAIA outdoor track meet
Caroline Karunde - 6th at the NAIA XC meet and the NAIA national champ in 2008 in the 10K
Winrose Karunde - 1st in the D-II XC meet in 2007 and the D-II national champ in the steeple and the 10K in 2008 (injured most of 2008-2009, but still finished 5th in the D-II 5K in 2009)
Meagan Willingham - from Ballinger and South Plains - a solid addition to the team who finished 36th at the JC national XC meet. Should add quality depth
I will try to GUESS at a top 10 list, but it is tough. I think that Lillian Badaru runs #1 all year, but #2-6 will trade places all year and all are capable of finishing in the top 20 at conference and Tech will be tough to beat if the Red Raiders put 6 women into the top 20! There is a lot of parity in the next 6 as well, so I have fudged a bit and actually have 12 in my top 10 (a mathematical oxymoron):
1) Lillian Badaru
2) Purity Biwott
3) Gladys Kipsang
4) Caroline Karunde
5) Michelle Guzman
6) Winrose Karunde
7) Meagan Willingham
8) Kaci Westervelt
9) Katherine Priebe/Kayla Sayegh
10) Shannon Jackson/Kearci Jobe
If for some reason, Winnie Karunde and Purity Biwott have problems with their transfer, Tech is still a good team with the top 4 being very strong and 5-6 women fighting for that all-important 5th spot (only the top 5 finishers count toward team points at the conference meet). However, I fully expect to see the full Red Raider team run from the first meet and if everyone runs, this is a definite conference contender and is the best collegiate XC team in Texas.
