Saturday, November 23
Madison, Wisc.
Baylor
vs
NCAA Championship
XC Freshman Kimeli to compete in NCAA Championships
11/22/2024 5:53:00 PM | Cross Country
Ruth Kimeli to finish out the 2024 XC season
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
MADISON, Wisc. – Growing up in Eldoret, Kenya, it's safe to say that Ruth Kimeli didn't have to look too far to find inspiration for her running aspirations.
Right there in the same house were her eldest brother, Mathew Kimeli, a professional athlete who won the Bangsaen21 Half Marathon World Athletics race last December in Chonburi, Thailand, in 1:03:39; and older sister, Joyce Kimeli, an NCAA national indoor champion in the 5,000 meters in 2021 at Auburn.
"They are like my mentors; they are like my heart advisors," said Kimeli, a freshman at Baylor who qualified as an individual for Saturday's NCAA Cross Country Championships, which begins with the women's 6,000-meter race at 9:20 a.m. at the Zimmer Championship course in Madison, Wisconsin.
"They used to advise me on how I can run very well. My brother and my sister, and maybe my parents, used to guide me and advise me on what I used to look like or the way I used to progress with my athletics. They gave me the motivation that, 'Yes, you can be a good runner, and you can do it better.'''
In a way, Ruth Kimeli followed in the same footsteps as Joyce, who ran for current Baylor cross country coach David Barnett at Auburn. Barnett came to Baylor the summer after Joyce won the NCAA indoor 5,000 meters in March 2021 in 15:48.98.
"The way I got to Baylor was really much surprising, and it was really a fantastic journey," said Ruth, who enrolled at Baylor last January. "I got encouragement from my sister, and I used to see my sister work hard, and the way she progressed was so inspiring, too. . . . Because I like running so much, and I like studying, too, this can give me the opportunity to travel through the journey very well. And I was like, 'Okay, I can do this.'''
Last spring, Ruth dipped her toe in the outdoor track and field waters, running a season-best time of 16:37.53 in the 5,000 meters, placing sixth in the 1,500 at the Michael Johnson Invitational and 13th in the 5,000 at the Big 12 Championships.
"I knew she was talented," Barnett said. "In the spring, I think she was just getting used to everything, getting settled in. Didn't race her indoors and raced here a few times outdoors. But she likes the hilly courses, she likes the competition."
That was certainly the case in her first collegiate cross-country season, when Ruth came out like a wrecking ball, recording top-15 finishes in each of her first three meets. She became the first Baylor woman to earn a top-10 finish at the prestigious Gans Creek Classic in Missouri, placing eighth with a 6K time of 20:12.3.
Her run of top-15 finishes ended with a 26th-place showing at the Big 12 Championships in Waco, but Ruth bounced back to finish fourth at the NCAA South Central Regional in College Station with a personal-best time of 19:28.1 to earn a spot in the NCAA Championships.
"It was a dream for me," she said. "I was really aiming at it, especially the way I was training. The way that I got support from the team and the coaches really made me focus through it. And I was like, 'Yes, I must get it.'''
Barnett said Ruth and her siblings "don't just have the physical traits (to compete at the highest level), they have the mental traits for it."
"They expect to be at the front of races. They expect to do well, and they just love competing," he said. "You never know exactly when the potential is going to show up. On one hand, it's always a nice surprise when it happens. But I was always confident that she'd be able to be a really good runner for us."
Ruth said her No. 1 goal at nationals is "run to my best," but she would like to improve on her PR in the 6,000 meters and try to finish in the top 40 runners to earn All-America honors.
The NCAA Championships will be broadcast by ESPNU, with live updated results available at NCAA XC Championships.
MADISON, Wisconsin – Freshman Ruth Kimeli will head to Madison, Wisconisin to participate in the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday, November 23 at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course.
The freshman Bear is only the second female freshman in program history and 10th female overall in program history to earn an individual qualification. The last time a freshman from Baylor qualified to the national championship was in 2010.
THE RUNDOWN
In her last showing at the NCAA South Central Regional at the Watts Cross Country Course, Kimeli earned a career-best podium finish of fourth place, claiming NCAA All-Region title status. She also paced for a personal-best time of 19:28.1 in the 6k to become the first Baylor woman in seven years to qualify individually to the NCAA Championships.
Kimeli has never placed lower than 26th place and finished in the top-15 through four out of five meets.
At the NCAA Championship, Kimeli will begin the 6k race at 9:20 a.m. with the award presentation slated to begin approxiametly at 11 a.m. Live results can be found here.
- BaylorBears.com -
Baylor Bear Insider
MADISON, Wisc. – Growing up in Eldoret, Kenya, it's safe to say that Ruth Kimeli didn't have to look too far to find inspiration for her running aspirations.
Right there in the same house were her eldest brother, Mathew Kimeli, a professional athlete who won the Bangsaen21 Half Marathon World Athletics race last December in Chonburi, Thailand, in 1:03:39; and older sister, Joyce Kimeli, an NCAA national indoor champion in the 5,000 meters in 2021 at Auburn.
"They are like my mentors; they are like my heart advisors," said Kimeli, a freshman at Baylor who qualified as an individual for Saturday's NCAA Cross Country Championships, which begins with the women's 6,000-meter race at 9:20 a.m. at the Zimmer Championship course in Madison, Wisconsin.
"They used to advise me on how I can run very well. My brother and my sister, and maybe my parents, used to guide me and advise me on what I used to look like or the way I used to progress with my athletics. They gave me the motivation that, 'Yes, you can be a good runner, and you can do it better.'''
In a way, Ruth Kimeli followed in the same footsteps as Joyce, who ran for current Baylor cross country coach David Barnett at Auburn. Barnett came to Baylor the summer after Joyce won the NCAA indoor 5,000 meters in March 2021 in 15:48.98.
"The way I got to Baylor was really much surprising, and it was really a fantastic journey," said Ruth, who enrolled at Baylor last January. "I got encouragement from my sister, and I used to see my sister work hard, and the way she progressed was so inspiring, too. . . . Because I like running so much, and I like studying, too, this can give me the opportunity to travel through the journey very well. And I was like, 'Okay, I can do this.'''
Last spring, Ruth dipped her toe in the outdoor track and field waters, running a season-best time of 16:37.53 in the 5,000 meters, placing sixth in the 1,500 at the Michael Johnson Invitational and 13th in the 5,000 at the Big 12 Championships.
"I knew she was talented," Barnett said. "In the spring, I think she was just getting used to everything, getting settled in. Didn't race her indoors and raced here a few times outdoors. But she likes the hilly courses, she likes the competition."
That was certainly the case in her first collegiate cross-country season, when Ruth came out like a wrecking ball, recording top-15 finishes in each of her first three meets. She became the first Baylor woman to earn a top-10 finish at the prestigious Gans Creek Classic in Missouri, placing eighth with a 6K time of 20:12.3.
Her run of top-15 finishes ended with a 26th-place showing at the Big 12 Championships in Waco, but Ruth bounced back to finish fourth at the NCAA South Central Regional in College Station with a personal-best time of 19:28.1 to earn a spot in the NCAA Championships.
"It was a dream for me," she said. "I was really aiming at it, especially the way I was training. The way that I got support from the team and the coaches really made me focus through it. And I was like, 'Yes, I must get it.'''
Barnett said Ruth and her siblings "don't just have the physical traits (to compete at the highest level), they have the mental traits for it."
"They expect to be at the front of races. They expect to do well, and they just love competing," he said. "You never know exactly when the potential is going to show up. On one hand, it's always a nice surprise when it happens. But I was always confident that she'd be able to be a really good runner for us."
Ruth said her No. 1 goal at nationals is "run to my best," but she would like to improve on her PR in the 6,000 meters and try to finish in the top 40 runners to earn All-America honors.
The NCAA Championships will be broadcast by ESPNU, with live updated results available at NCAA XC Championships.
MADISON, Wisconsin – Freshman Ruth Kimeli will head to Madison, Wisconisin to participate in the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday, November 23 at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course.
The freshman Bear is only the second female freshman in program history and 10th female overall in program history to earn an individual qualification. The last time a freshman from Baylor qualified to the national championship was in 2010.
THE RUNDOWN
In her last showing at the NCAA South Central Regional at the Watts Cross Country Course, Kimeli earned a career-best podium finish of fourth place, claiming NCAA All-Region title status. She also paced for a personal-best time of 19:28.1 in the 6k to become the first Baylor woman in seven years to qualify individually to the NCAA Championships.
Kimeli has never placed lower than 26th place and finished in the top-15 through four out of five meets.
At the NCAA Championship, Kimeli will begin the 6k race at 9:20 a.m. with the award presentation slated to begin approxiametly at 11 a.m. Live results can be found here.
- BaylorBears.com -
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