photo by: Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics

The Kansas women’s cross country team during the Bob Timmons Cross Country Classic at Rim Rock Farms in Lawrence on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024.

The Kansas cross-country squad started the season on a positive note on Saturday, as the Jayhawks took team titles in the men’s 6,000-meter competition and women’s 5,000 in the Bob Timmons Classic at Rim Rock Farm.

“We wanted to create a focused unit and learn how to run as a team,” assistant coach Michael Whittlesey said in a press release. “On the women’s side, I thought our freshmen did a great job of that, especially considering it was their first race. We also had some freshman guys who worked well with our upperclassmen, really packing it in together. From that standpoint, our top runners executed the race plan very well.”

The women’s competition saw KU take three of the top four spots overall, led by fifth-year senior Kenadi Krueger (17:28.18), who was nearly 38 seconds faster than the next closest competitor, Kansas State’s Grace Meyer.

“I’m really excited about my finish,” Krueger said in the release. “I wasn’t originally planning to run this race, so I’m glad I got the chance to be here and compete with my team.”

Behind Meyer were some of Krueger’s younger Jayhawk teammates in freshman Dorcas Kiptanui (18:21.67), junior Tori Wingrove (18:32.17) and freshman Kaitlyn Swartz (18:38.39), who was competing unattached.

Juniors Tanner Talley (18:33.52) and Quenton Walion (18:39.64) took second and third place overall as part of KU’s winning effort on the men’s side, closely followed by four other Jayhawks in the top 10: unattached freshman Blake Wohler (18:48.09), sophomore Sawyer Schmidt (18:54.00), unattached freshman Samuel Trumble (18:55.90) and redshirt freshman Ryo Higuchi (19:05.77).

“It was great to be at Rim Rock and show the fans our summer work,” Talley said in the release. “Our plan was to run as a pack, and Q, Sawyer, and I led the way. The freshmen stepped up too, which was awesome. We stayed together for the first half and then pushed at the end. It felt great.”

Other schools in competition included Kansas City, McDaniel, Oral Roberts and Park U, as well as local participants Baker and Haskell.

KU does not return to action until Sept. 27, when it will take part in the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Missouri.

photo by: Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics

Tanner Talley during the Bob Timmons Cross Country Classic at Rim Rock Farms in Lawrence on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024.

photo by: Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics

Kenadi Krueger during the Bob Timmons Cross Country Classic at Rim Rock Farms in Lawrence on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024.

photo by: Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics

Dorcas Kiptanui during the Bob Timmons Cross Country Classic at Rim Rock Farms in Lawrence on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024.

photo by: Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics

Quenton Walion during the Bob Timmons Cross Country Classic at Rim Rock Farms in Lawrence on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024.

photo by: Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics

Tanner Talley during the Bob Timmons Cross Country Classic at Rim Rock Farms in Lawrence on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024.

photo by: Jordyn Pennington/Kansas Athletics

Dorcas Kiptanui during the Bob Timmons Cross Country Classic at Rim Rock Farms in Lawrence on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024.