Fast Women: Doris Lemngole, BYU top the NCAA
West Virginia and Providence surpass expectations, land on the podium.
Issue 325, sponsored by Topo Athletic
Doris Lemngole goes from runner-up to champ, and BYU has a butterfly moment
When it comes to a race as chaotic as the NCAA Cross Country Championships, experience makes a difference. And on Saturday in Madison, Wisconsin, Alabama’s Doris Lemngole and the BYU women used what they learned a year ago to help them come out on top.
At last year’s NCAA meet, Florida’s Parker Valby jumped out to an early lead, but Lemngole, who was in her first season in the NCAA, made up ground over the final 2K. She ultimately finished second, 10 seconds behind Valby. This year, Lemngole ran in the lead pack throughout the race. With about 800 meters remaining, she and the other two pre-race favorites—New Mexico’s Pamela Kosgei and Florida’s Hilda Olemomoi—broke away.
Kosgei, the NCAA newcomer, was the first to drop back. It was down to Lemngole and Olemomoi, who were teammates at Alabama last year. With just under 300m remaining, Lemngole shifted gears and erased all questions about who would win. She crossed the finish line in 19:21.0. Kosgei reeled Olemomoi back in and took second in 19:27.8. And Olemomoi moved up one spot from last year and finished third in 19:28.7.
Stanford’s Amy Bunnage wasn’t planning to race this season because of an injury, but about two weeks before the West Regional, she changed her mind. She won the regional race and finished fourth in Madison in 19:31.1, completing a very short but successful season. And NC State’s Grace Hartman, the top American in the field, rounded out the top five, running 19:39.5.
In recent years, BYU has consistently been one of the top teams in the NCAA. But at last year’s NCAA Cross Country Championships, they went in ranked third, led the race through 2K, and then they imploded. Coach Diljeet Taylor said after Saturday’s race that last year’s 14th-place finish was the lowest moment in her coaching career.
“I remember coming back to my team (after the race) and saying, ‘Just when the caterpillar thinks the world is ending, she becomes a butterfly,’” she told reporters. “And since that moment, if you’ve followed BYU women’s distance, we’ve had a ton of butterfly moments.” Taylor and her team wore matching butterfly necklaces on Saturday, partially to remind them to stay committed because, “When things are really dark, the light is just on the other side,” Taylor said.
Four runners from last year’s top seven represented BYU on Saturday, and it would have been five if 15:30 5,000m runner Jenna Hutchins hadn’t missed the race due to injury. Lexy Halladay-Lowry, the team’s top runner, was a somewhat of a question mark going into the race because she has been dealing with an injury as well. Taylor said Halladay-Lowry was “pretty much a mermaid the month of November,” referring to the fact that she was forced to do most of her training in the pool.
BYU’s motto this season was “embrace the imperfect” and Halladay-Lowry’s buildup was far from perfect, but she earned her highest NCAA cross country finish yet, placing 14th—89 spots higher than a year ago. Riley Chamberlain, the team’s number two runner, finished 31st after being 216th a year ago. And the most improved runner among BYU’s returnees was Carmen Alder, who finished 39th to earn All-America honors (which go to the top 40) after having a panic attack mid-race last year and placing 246th out of 247 finishers.
Taylor said the team’s strategy was to act with urgency at the beginning, patience in the middle, and urgency at the end. And they executed well, taking the lead by 5K and holding off a fast-closing West Virginia University 147 to 164. Also representing BYU were Taylor Rohatinsky (43rd), Carlee Hansen (65th), Nelah Roberts (83rd), and Taylor Lovell (88th).
As some of the top-ranked teams struggled a bit, it was delightful to see West Virginia University and Providence College have excellent days, finishing second (164 points) and third (183 points), respectively. West Virginia began the season unranked in the NCAA Coaches’ Poll. They finally entered the rankings, at 28th, on October 8. But after finishing fourth at Pre-Nationals on October 19, they jumped to fourth in the rankings.
And Saturday, with Ceili McCabe (sixth), Joy Naukot (17th), and Sarah Tait (34th) leading the way, they topped their ranking. Their runner-up finish was the program’s highest ever at this event. And they came closer to beating BYU at NCAAs (17 points back) than they did at the Big 12 Championships (19 points back), despite the NCAA championships being a much higher-scoring meet.
Of the four podium teams, Providence made the biggest leap, going in ranked 11th and finishing third. With a bunch of track stars leading the way, this was always a team with a lot of potential, and they put all of the pieces together on the right day. Kimberley May (10th), Alex Millard (20th), and Shannon Flockhart (24th) helped Providence get on the podium for the first time since 2015. (This video, featuring May, was touching.)
NAU, who went in ranked third, scored 206 points to edge out Oregon (210) and Stanford (213) for fourth place, the final podium spot. They were led by Aliandrea Upshaw, who earned All-America honors for the first time with a 22nd-place finish. The team had some strong performances, but collectively, on their best day, they were capable of more. They led the race through 4K before dropping back.
Oregon, who looked like they might be able to contend for the title, hit 1K in 12th place, and though they moved up, they never fully recovered from their slow start. (Race replay | Results)
Thanks to Topo Athletic for supporting Fast Women
The Topo Atmos offers game-changing comfort, combining max cushion with the signature Topofit, featuring a roomy toe box, a low heel-to-toe drop, and a secure midfoot.
When the Atmos launched, Ultrarunning Magazine wrote, “You might say the Atmos is a shoe designed to out-Hoka Hoka, and in many ways, it does just that.”
As someone who has been trying out the Atmos, I can vouch for the fact that it’s an incredibly comfortable shoe. I love its spacious toe box, secure midfoot, and the cushion of the shoe.
Experience game-changing comfort yourself, by using the code FASTWTOPO for 15% off full-price items at topoathletic.com. Offer valid until 12/31/24.
Other NCAA Cross Country Notes
BYU became only the fifth team ever to sweep both the women’s and men’s NCAA cross country titles in the same year. They joined Colorado (2004), Stanford (1996 and 2003), and Wisconsin (1985).
This was the sixth time the BYU women have won the NCAA cross country title. They also won in 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2020. BYU’s fourth runner, Taylor Rohatinsky, is the niece of Tara Rohatinsky Northcutt, who was a member of the 1999 championship team. And Taylor’s uncle, Josh Rohatinsky, won an individual NCAA cross country title in 2006.
Lexy Halladay-Lowry is the only athlete who was in BYU’s top seven for both their 2020 and 2024 national titles. In 2020, she was the team’s seventh runner, and she placed 184th. “That year, I rode on the backs of the women before me,” she told reporters. “And I feel so lucky that, with this being my last cross country season, I was the one that was able to carry the team and pull them along… It was such a full circle moment for me and the team.”
For more on Doris Lemngole, this is a good article from last October. After her runner-up finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships last year, she finished third in the 3,000m and fourth in the 5,000m at NCAA Indoors and won the steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The NCAA is becoming more international and more competitive all the time. Last year, 25 out of the 40 All-Americans were Americans. This year only 14 of them were. I think some that is because this was a bit of a down year for Americans in the NCAA, but becoming an All-American is only getting tougher. There were two American women in the top 10: NC State’s Grace Hartman and Arkansas’ Paityn Noe.
LetsRun’s Jonathan Gault published an interesting article last week about the significant increase in the number of Kenyan runners in the NCAA. According to the piece, it’s becoming easier to get visas, and NCAA rule changes (like covering costs throughout the recruiting process and covering additional expenses once athletes are in the U.S.) have made it more financially feasible and appealing for Kenyans to come to the U.S. Recruiting services are also making a big difference. Some schools are now basically outsourcing their recruiting in Kenya, and other countries, for a hefty fee, and it’s resulting in some very strong athletes, like Lemngole, running in the NCAA. It’s not just Kenya that has a strong presence at the front of the NCAA. I was also impressed by the fact that there were five Canadian runners in the top 19.
BYU’s winning score of 147 points was the third-highest in meet history, and I think that’s a direct result of how competitive this meet has become.
Despite the fact that only 21.9 percent of Division I women’s cross country teams have a female head coach, this was the fifth year in a row that the winning team was coached by a woman. Diljeet Taylor earned wins in 2020 and 2024, and NC State and Laurie Henes won from 2021 to 2023.
The majority of this year’s top 10 finishers made big leaps from last year. Providence’s Kimberley May went from 116th to 10th. Noe went from 101st to seventh. UConn’s Chloe Thomas went from 99th to ninth. NC State’s Hannah Gapes went from 73rd to eighth, and her teammate, Hartman, jumped from 63rd to fifth. And Stanford’s Amy Bunnage was 59th last year before finishing fourth this year.
Seven runners who are in their first academic year in the NCAA earned All-America honors. Most of them are older than typical first-years, though, so they’ve had more time to develop their talent. I’ve included their ages for reference. They were: Pamela Kosgei (second, age 20), Caroline Jeptanui (12th, age 25), Rachel Forsyth (16th, age 18), Joy Naukot (17th, age 20 or 21), Brenda Jepchirchir (21st, age 19), Judy Chepkoech (30th, age 18), and Leah Jeruto (40th, age 24). That said, most of them were adjusting to life in a new country as well, which comes with its own challenges.
The team that beat their ranking by the most was the University of North Carolina, led by Taryn Parks’ 27th-place finish. They placed 11th, 10 places higher than their pre-meet ranking.
There were three Paris Olympians in the field: McCabe (sixth), Oregon’s Klaudia Kazimierska (100th), and Washington’s Sophie O’Sullivan (135th). This meet is so challenging that there are a number of athletes who have finished near the back of the field and gone on to become Olympians.
I appreciated the uninterrupted coverage of the races on ESPN, but the women’s coverage was unfortunately a flop. With about 400 meters remaining in the race, the picture quality really started to fall apart. ESPN missed getting footage of all of the finishers, and the race replay has a note at the bottom saying it affected all broadcast feeds. Imagine the uproar if this was a football game and ESPN said, “We missed the winning touchdown. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
In Division II, Grand Valley State’s Lauren Kiley edged out Alaska Fairbanks’ Kendall Kramer for the win, 20:28.5 to 20:30.7. Running is only Kramer’s second-best sport; she is a highly-accomplished cross country skier as well. Adams State dominated the team race, winning with 61 points on a very muddy course in Sacramento, California. (Results | Poor-quality broadcast)
Wilmington College’s Faith Duncan, who won the NCAA Outdoor 5,000m title in the spring, dominated in Division III. Duncan covered the 6K course in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 20:16.5 and won the race by 41.7 seconds over Vassar’s Haley Schoenegge. In addition to being a DIII champion, Duncan is also a professional triathlete. In the team race, MIT trailed the University of Chicago by 18 points with 1K to go, but MIT stayed consistent over the final kilometer and won 128 to 138. I appreciated this post, which showed which runners made the biggest jumps from last year’s race. One of the smartest things the NCAA has done in recent years is hire Noah Droddy and Stu Newstat of DIII Glory Days to do the commentary for the DIII coverage. They didn’t have the greatest footage to work with, but they did an incredible job of keeping viewers informed about what was going on. The athletes work so hard, and they deserve quality coverage of their accomplishments. (Results | Race replay)
Taylor University’s Jaynie Halterman, who is in her first year of college, earned a convincing win at Friday’s NAIA Cross Country Championships in Columbia, Missouri, covering the 6K course in 20:24.7. Hannah Fredericks, of The Master’s University, finished second in 20:45.3. Halterman finished seventh at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships last year but chose to attend Taylor because she wanted a more well-rounded college experience. In the team race, The Master’s made up a nine-point deficit over the final kilometer to edge out Taylor for the win, 92 to 93. (Results)
Other News and Links
Kellyn Taylor expressed her frustration in an Instagram story last Monday, writing, “When a company devalues you after you turn a certain age, that's wrong. When you produce results, some of the best for the team (subjectively) of the year, and STILL it's not enough...that's wrong. When you build and produce results for a company and organization year after year and then are cast aside without a single word from those in charge, that's wrong. We deserve better. Do better.” Three days later, she added this on Bluesky and posted another Instagram story about toxic workplace culture. It will be interesting to see if she chooses to provide more specifics down the road. Taylor has been a member of NAZ Elite since the team’s inception, and the team has been supported by Hoka since 2015. Taylor recently said she wants to continue to run professionally through 2028.
In the end, it was Hillary Kupish who won the overall title at the Great World Race, averaging 3:12 for seven marathons on all seven continents in seven days. She and Becs Gentry, Ashley Paulson, and Chirine Njeim swept the top four spots overall, surpassing all of the men. Jenny Simpson hung in there with them for most of the race, even winning the sixth marathon, in Cartagena, Colombia, outright, running 3:19:24 in very hot conditions. But she struggled on the race’s final day, running a 5:19:38.
It turns out that Chappell Roan, whose given name is Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, is a fast woman, too. Runner’s World published a piece that looked at some of her past running performances last week. I’m surprised this hadn’t come up already, because the information is easy to find. (More here.) She ran a 20:06 5K in cross country in ninth grade, which qualified her for the state meet. There’s a photo here (she’s number 853). She also ran track. MileSplit’s data isn’t necessarily comprehensive, but she ran at least 3:07 for 800m. (She’s clearly more of a distance runner.) In this 2018 interview, she talked about feeling like she’s in high school again when she visits home, saying, “I literally wake up and I'm like, ‘Oh, do I have track practice today?’" She ran through her junior year but signed her first record deal at age 17, and typical high school things began to take a back seat. She must have gotten a pretty early start in the sport; a Twitter user pointed out that she ran a 27:38 5K when she was 10. She has run a number of road races, including a 25:39 5K at age 12, and she’s from a Turkey Trot family, too.
Shelby Houlihan’s doping ban doesn’t end until January 13, but she’s now allowed to train with other pros. According to Runner’s World, she’s still looking for a team and a sponsor; I think it’s going to be interesting to see who will be willing to work with her going forward. Nikki Hiltz had some thoughtful comments in the piece, but added some further thoughts on Bluesky last week. “Part of loving someone is holding them accountable for their actions in a respectful and productive way, which is different from shaming them,” they wrote. “I believe harassing Shelby isn’t productive. That doesn’t mean I, and many others in this sport, won’t expect accountability.”
Tatyana Tomashova’s upgraded second-place finish in the 1500m at the 2012 Olympic Games has now been officially disqualified. It’s up to the IOC whether or not the medals are reallocated, but either way, Shannon Rowbury is officially the third-place finisher in that race, even though she crossed the finish line in sixth. The Times recently talked to Rowbury and Great Britain’s Lisa Dobriskey and Laura Weightman about how doping has affected them.
Kenya’s Mary Moraa, Elise Cranny, and Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka have all signed with Grand Slam Track, and in conjunction with that announcement, Cranny did a Q&A with Outside Run last week.
This article about Park City, Utah, becoming a haven for distance runners includes a little Courtney Frerichs content at the end. “I really tried to remind myself of the fact that missing (the Paris Games) doesn’t take away from anything else I have done,” she said. “But it still hurts.”
Aaliyah Miller has left Team Boss.
Sinclaire Johnson announced her engagement last week.
More pro runners have joined Bluesky in the past week, including Nikki Hiltz, Deena Kastor, Lindsay Flanagan, Kellyn Taylor, and Steph Bruce.
Most of what I’ve seen about the inaugural Every Woman’s Marathon suggests it was a great event, but Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said last week that it was too soon to tell whether the city would welcome the event back.
On October 28, Linda “Nana” Vanderloop, 74, became the oldest woman ever to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. (Outside)
PYNRS, the first and only Black-owned performance running apparel company in the U.S., is looking for investors. The brand was founded by Sid Baptista, who has done great things for the Boston running community via the Pioneers Run Crew. The minimum investment is $250 and if you are interested, the campaign is open until November 30 and you can get much more information here.
The AIU has banned Kenya’s Emmaculate Anyango Achol, 24, for six years. Beginning on February 3 of this year, she had four positive drug tests, which indicated she had used both testosterone and EPO. The multiple positive tests and multiple substances earned her an extra-long ban. All of her results since February 3 have been disqualified. Because she ran her 28:57 10K, the second-fastest time ever, 20 days before her first positive test, that result will stand, even though it’s highly unlikely she was clean when she ran it. You can read the details of the Athletics Integrity Unit’s decision here.
Additional Results
Rachel Drake won the JFK 50 Miler and became the first woman to break six hours on the course, running 5:57:32.1. She finished 10th overall. Runner-up Mary Denholm also ran a strong race and surpassed the previous course record. She finished 14th overall in 6:04:15.2. (Results | More from iRunFar)
Emily Venters jumped out to an early lead and stayed there at last week’s Sound Running Cross Champs, held in Austin, Texas, in conjunction with The Running Event. Venters’ lead grew throughout and she won the 8K race in 26:02.3, finishing 23.8 seconds ahead of NAZ Elite’s Mercy Chelangat. Venters’ race was all the more impressive considering she got Covid about 10 days before the race. Katie Izzo finished third in 26:31.7. (Results)
Katie Florio won the Philadelphia Marathon, her hometown race, in a personal best of 2:32:44. Argentina’s Florencia Borelli won the accompanying 8K in 26:02 and Lindsay Flanagan was second in 26:06. Ethiopia’s Mebrat Gidey won the half marathon in 1:10:44, with Kenya’s Sarah Naibei one second back. (Marathon results | Half marathon/8K results)
Podcast Highlights
Ireland’s Ciara Mageean was fantastic on the Indo Sport podcast. She won the 1500m at the European Championships in June, but had to miss the Olympic Games due to injury. She said she had been dealing with Achilles pain for a long time, but she kept putting off dealing with it because her running was going well. Hearing her discuss doing everything she could to make it to the starting line, and not even telling her parents about her struggle, really drove home how tough professional running can be at times. She finally made the decision not to run the day before she was scheduled to race. She had Achilles surgery about 10 weeks ago and she’s hoping to be back in time to be competitive at the World Championships next September. Longer term, she wants to be healthy and fit going into the 2028 Olympic Games. Mageean has left her previous training group and will be based in Belfast going forward.
It was good to get a Nell Rojas update on the Love Where You Live podcast, and I appreciated her honesty about her struggles. It’s a hard episode to summarize, but it’s worth a listen. Rojas said she went through a breakup a year and a half ago and since then, she hasn’t been able to perform, because it brought up so many emotions. She said she’s doing better now, and the experience has made her a better coach.
Des Linden and Kara Goucher talked to Linden’s “nemesis,” Dakotah Popehn, on Nobody Asked Us.
I appreciated the opportunity to hear Dr. Sarah Lesko discuss her work with Bras for Girls and talk about the ways the NCAA is failing female athletes on The Lane 9 Podcast.
Christine Thorn Fischer, who was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer last year and recently ran 3:09 at the New York City Marathon, was on the Ali on the Run Show.
Additional Episodes: Sara Vaughn was on NYRR’s Set the Pace podcast (there’s also a brief chat with former MIT runner Maryann Gong, who ran 2:44:06 at this year’s NYC Marathon, at the end) | 17-time NCAA DIII champion Christy Cazzola was on DIII Glory Days | On The Rambling Runner Podcast, Lindsey Bradley discussed running 2:31:49 at the Indy Monumental Marathon despite a bad fall around mile 12.
I attempted to edit this newsletter myself this week. Whether or not you noticed, I certainly did. I am so thankful to Sarah Lorge Butler who makes this newsletter significantly better every week (except this one).
I am also thankful to Topo Athletic for their support these past two months. Remember that you can use the code FASTWTOPO for 15 percent off full-price items at topoathletic.com through the end of the year.
And a huge thank you, also, to all of you who help keep this newsletter going with your support via Venmo and Patreon. This wouldn’t be possible without you. I hope you all have a good week.
Alison
The "impressionist art or ESPN coverage" caption gave me a solid laugh this morning!