Baylor’s Ruth Kimeli finished the cross country season for the Bears Saturday, placing 112th in the NCAA Championships. The sophomore set a new personal record for the Gans Creek Cross Country Course and came just shy of setting a career personal record.

While the Bears placed 12th overall in the NCAA South Central Regionals, sophomore Ruth Kimeli placed eighth individually, putting her just out of reach for automatic qualification in the NCAA Championships. She is still eligible for an at-large spot.

After a fall filled with personal bests and breakout performances, Baylor cross country enters championship season with momentum. The Bears look to turn steady progress into postseason results against one of the nation’s toughest fields.

A new member to the Baylor track and field team recently made her mark, as graduate student mid-distance runner Rachel Hickey placed third in the 1,500-meter dash in the Clyde Hart Classic on March 23 in Waco.

Seventeen Baylor runners will compete on Saturday in Ames, Iowa.

Baylor cross country is set to open its season on Friday in San Antonio, as the team travels to the University of the Incarnate Word’s annual Twilight meet at the Classics Elite Soccer Complex.

Since the formation of the conference in 1996, Baylor cross country has never won the Big 12, but that isn’t stopping the Bears from taking on a familiar course Friday in Lubbock — and they’re excited to do it.

“[At Florida], I realized that I was falling out of love with running and that I really just hated the sport,” Addy said. “I came to the point where basically it was like, if I want to continue running, it’s not going to be here.”

Both the men’s and women’s teams placed second in the first event of the season.

“It’s contagious,” head cross country coach David Barnett said. “When you’re racing, it makes it easier to fight for each other. It’s hard to quit when you have a lot invested, and you feel like you’re in this together with people.”