Here are thumbnail sketches of the Big 12 teams set to compete at the league men’s and women’s cross country championships Friday at Rim Rock Farm. The women’s 6K race is at 10 a.m.; the men’s 8K at 11.

Baylor

Men

Junior Mitch Sanders and senior Bo Price claimed the individual title at Baylor’s Bear Relays.

Senior Rob Morrow won the North Texas Invitational, while sophomore Jacob Jones, Sanders and sophomore Rey Hinojosa placed second through fourth.

Morrow was named Big 12 Runner of the Week for his 30th-place finish at the Roy Griak Invitational.

Women

The Bears are the 30th-ranked team in the country in the U.S. Track and Field cross country poll.

Freshmen Renae VanWhye and Nichole Jones won the Bear Relays. Junior Lyndsy Bedell and junior Lauren Hagans placed second. Jones and Bedell went 1-2 at the North Texas Invitational. Jones was 16th at the Griak meet.

Colorado

Men

The CU men are ranked second in the country. Two-time All-American Stephen Pifer placed fourth at the Rocky Mountain Shootout and seventh at the NCAA Pre-Nationals. Pifer notched fifth at the Big 12 CC meet a year ago.

CU has three other All-Americans in senior Billy Nelson and juniors James Strang and Brent Vaughn. Nelson placed eighth at the Pre-Nationals, while Vaughn took 10th and Strang 20th. Strang and Nelson were eighth and ninth at last year’s Big 12 meet. Senior Erik Heinonen placed 12th at the Shootout and 30th at the Pre-Nationals. Sophomore Seth DeMoor took eighth at the Shootout.

Women

The Buffalo women are ranked 10th in the country. Sophomore Jenny Barringer, the 2006 NCAA steeplechase champion and last year’s Big 12 cross country runner-up, won the Rocky Mountain Shootout in 20 minutes, 51 seconds. She took third overall at the Pre-Nationals, cutting 26 seconds off her personal best.

Junior two-time All-American Liza Pasciuto placed second at the Shootout and 15th at the Pre-Nationals. Freshmen Aislinn Ryan and Claire Maduza placed 46th and 51st at the Pre-Nationals. Senior Erin Marston notched 12th at the Shootout.

Iowa State

Men

Sophomore Kiel Uhl, who earned seventh at the Big 12 meet last year, has finished individually in the top 10 in all but one of his races and continues to be followed closely by freshman Guor Majak. Uhl placed 18th at the Pre-Nationals in 24:04. Majak followed in 40th, while senior David Rotich notched 98th.

Women

Sophomore Lisa Koll placed sixth and freshman Kelsey Bulat was 48th at the Chile Pepper Festival in Arkansas.

Koll ran a 20:29.1 on the 6K course while Bulat finished the course with a time of 21:40.8. Seniors Meredith McKean and Jenny Mockler are also top Cyclone runners.

Kansas

Men

The Jayhawks are ranked 19th in the country. Senior Benson Chesang is coming off a 30th-place finish at the NCAA Pre-Nationals. Junior Paul Hefferon captured his first career victory at the Bob Timmons Invitational, while junior Colby Wissel repeated as the winner at the Kansas State Wildcat Invitational, earning him Big 12 Runner of the Week honors. Wissell placed 10th at last year’s Big 12 meet, while Chesang is two time defending league champ.

Seniors Matt French, Tyler Kelly and Erik Sloan have contributed. French was the team’s fifth finisher at the NCAA Pre-Nationals, while Kelly and Sloan both earned all-region recognition last year.

Women

Junior Melissa O’Rourke placed sixth at the Timmons Invitational in a personal-best 6K time of 23:14.51. Junior Alicia McGregor placed third at Kansas State.

Junior Lisa Morrisey placed 20th at the Pre-Nationals and 100th at the Griak meet. Freshmen Kellie Schneider and Lauren Bonds have netted top-five finishes.

Kansas State

Men

Sophomore Colin Swaney placed fourth at the K-State/KU dual and eighth at the Timmons Invitational. Swaney placed 44th at the OSU Jambore. Kory Cool, a transfer from Johnson County Community College, placed fifth at the Timmons Invite and the KSU/KU dual.

Sophomores Alex Umberger and Danny Schneider were 13th and 19th at the Timmons.

Women

Sophomore Liliani Mendez, a native of Dorado, Puerto Rico, has been the top K-State finisher in four of five races. Mendez, a two-time Big 12 Runner of the Week, recorded her first career win at the K-State/KU Dual, ahead of runner-up Lindsay Pierson. Mendez placed sixth at the OSU Jamboree and ninth at the Griak Invitational.

Pierson, a freshman, placed third at the Timmons meet. Junior Morgan Bonds earned 32nd at OSU. Mendez placed 22nd at the Chile Pepper.

Missouri

Men

Tiger sophomore Garett Jeffries won the Missouri Challenge followed by teammates Tim Cornell (sophomore), Billy Bell (junior) and Michael Barrows (sophomore). Senior Tim Ross placed 31st at the Griak Invitational and 50th at the Pre-Nationals. Jeffries earned 57th, while freshman Dan Hedgecock was Mizzou’s third finisher for the second race in a row.

Five Mizzou runners finished the Pre-Nationals with personal-best 8K times. In addition to Jeffries and Hedgecock, Cornell, Bell and Barrows each set new career-best times.

Women

Sophomore Ellen Ries placed third at the Missouri Challenge. Senior Amanda Bales placed 10th at the Notre Dame Invitational, followed by junior Kate Greer (28) and Ries (60).

Bales placed 25th at the Pre-Nationals in 20:47.2, her best 6K time since the 2003 NCAA Championships, when she finished 23rd in 20:31.

Nebraska

Men

Sophomore Brian Parr placed 41st at the Chile Pepper. He’s taken over as the top NU runner with junior Peter van der Westhuizen hobbled by injuries.

A native of South Africa, van der Westhuizen has dealt with compartment syndrome since last season. Sophomore Kyle Custer won the season-opening Creighton/UNO Classic.

Junior Alec Maduza placed third at the Creighton/UNO meet behind Custer and senior Bryce Dickmeyer, who was second.

Women

Sophomore Ari Goldstein has finished as the team’s top runner in three of the six meets this season, including back-to-back individual titles at the Creighton/

UNO meet and the Nebraska Invitational.

Junior Channing Anseth placed 25th at the Chili Pepper. Lone senior co-captain Kim Pancoast earned seventh at the South Dakota State Invitational.

Oklahoma

Men

Freshman Rob Sorrell won the Tulsa Hurricane Festival and earned Big 12 Runner of the Week honors.

Junior Jason Coleman was honored by the league after leading OU to a 22nd-place finish at the Griak meet and sixth-place finish at the Penn State Invite. Freshman Jacob Boone hopes to run despite an infection in his leg.

Women

Junior Jessica Eldridge, who is coming off her career-best 6K run at the Pre-Nationals, is expected to challenge for all-conference honors. Junior Catherine Odell, plus senior Aja Clark, junior Kristi Cook and freshman Ashley Storm, make up the Sooners’ talented, but thin five-person squad.

Oklahoma State

Men

OSU is ranked 22nd in the country. Cowboy senior Joseph Gray placed ninth, sophomore Alejandro Ruiz was 11th and freshman Daniel Watts was 12th at the Tulsa Festival. Sophomore Ryan Vail placed fourth at the Cowboy Jamboree. Junior David Jankowski, who has been hindered by tendinitis in a knee, placed 17th at the Pre-Nationals in 24:03.

Women

Three of the Pokes’ top five returning runners have been slowed by injuries, including a season-ending loss of sophomore Anissa Angelosante. Along with Angelosante, senior Eva Slavikova and junior Eva Tomankova both have had injuries.

Senior Mary Davies, who placed fifth at the Big 12 meet last year, claimed a top-five finish at the Cowboy Jamboree and top-25 finish at the Pre-Nationals. Sophomore Nina Anderson, junior Kim Blomkvist and freshmen Hanna Holst, Tone Hjalmarsen and Leah Schroeder have scored this season.

Texas

Men

Led by All-American Joe Thorne, who placed first, the Longhorns, who are ranked 27th, swept the top five scoring positions at the Texas Invitational. Thorne, who notched second behind KU’s Chesang at last year’s Big 12 CC meet, placed 10th at the Dellinger Invitational. Junior track national champion Leonel Manzano and seniors Andrew Middleton and Owen Washburn have also finished in the top three in the scoring lineup for Texas. Senior Ryan Wilso and iuniors Jake Morse and Erik Stanley have provided a solid running base for UT. Stanley placed third at last year’s league meet.

Women

The Longhorns are led by senior Landra Stewardson, who placed 44th at the Chile Pepper. Freshmen Betzy Jiminez (63rd at Chile Pepper) and Lauren Salisbury have finished in the top three in the UT lineup all season. Sophomores Larkin Geyer and Ariana McKinney have fared well as well as senior Lige Stewardson, juniors Katy Leonard and Mariya Townswick, and sophomore Asia Myrland.

Texas A&M

Men

Senior Brian McKinstry has been the top runner for A&M in three of its last four meets.

McKinstry, who placed 34th at last year’s Big 12 meet (25:07 for 8,000 meters), has recorded a personal best time of 24:21.

Sophomores Mitch Bible and David Hebert have each split runner-up and third-runner positions in the four Aggie meets.

Women

Prep All-America Merideth Snow has led the Aggies in all four meets, which included individual wins at the Lobo Invitational and A&M Invitational. Snow ran a personal best of 20:52 over 6,000 meters to finish 32nd at the Pre-Nationals meet hosted by Indiana State.

Sophomore Sarah Balfour, an NCAA qualifier last year, has been the second runner for A&M in each meet this season. After placing 22nd at the Big 12 meet, Balfour posted a sixth-place finish at the South Central Regional and qualified for the NCAAs.

Texas Tech

Men

Kevin Chelimo placed first at the Murray Keatinge event, earning Big 12 Runner of the Week honors, and notched third at the Tech Jackrabbit Open and eighth at the Chile Pepper. Chelimo placed fourth at last year’s Big 12 CC meet. Newcomers Silas Kemboi and Edwin Sang followed in fifth and sixth at the Jackrabbit.

Women

The Tech women are ranked 21st in the country. Newcomer Sally Kipyego has breezed through her three competitions with first-place finishes, outrunning second place by an average of 32 seconds. She led the team to the title at the Red Raider Jackrabbit Open and the Murray Keatinge Invitational. Gladys Kipsang placed second in the Boit Invitational in New Mexico and was named league Runner of the Week. Violet Chemakwila comes in as the top Tech runner from last year’s conference showdown, as she placed third. Irene Kimaiyo placed 10th at league last year.