By Blake Vines | Reporter

Ruth Kimeli closed the Baylor cross-country season with a 112th-place finish at the NCAA Championships on Saturday.

The sophomore set a new personal record for the Gans Creek Cross Country Course, running a 20:00:3 in the 6K race. She came just shy of setting a career personal record.

This year was Kimeli’s second consecutive appearance at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Kimeli finished 112th among over 260 competitors in the NCAA Championships. Her time marked a significant improvement from her previous fastest finish at Gans Creek, 20:12:3, recorded in 2024. At the time, it was the 18th-fastest time ever run on the course.

“I think the only way to get better at being in championship races is to run championship races,” head cross-country coach David Barnett said. “There’s really nothing like it. You’re going to have a big crowd, you’re going to have a lot of energy there.”

Off the start, Kimeli was strong and energetic as she reached the 1K marker in a quick 3:05:4 and remained steady at the 3K marker in 55th place at 9:35:4, the 10th-fastest 3K time in the history of the Baylor track and field program. If she had kept this pace, she would have been able to close out the race only a few seconds out of a top-40 finish. But in the second half of the race, her final 3K time dropped to a 10:24:9, pushing her back 57 spots.

“I’m super proud of her,” Barnett said. “Making it to a national meet in any of the three sports we do [cross country, indoor and outdoor track], you have to be able to do it that day. So, that’s a big deal. Super happy for her. I think she’ll continue to improve and get the hang of it all.”