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As happy as Silas Kemboi is for Texas Tech coach Jon Murray and the job he’s done with the women’s cross country team, he believes the Red Raiders have to show their coach his work is paying off with the Tech men as well.
“You know, I was actually walking to class and I ran into Silas and he told me, ‘Like hey man let’s do something great for coach Murray,’” Tech runner Logan Culotta said. “‘The girls do great for him all the time, and let’s do something great for him. We at least want to make him proud of us.’”
Although the Lady Raiders left the Big 12 Championships with a second consecutive conference title, the men still are trying to make themselves relevant among the nation’s best.
With hopes they would finish in the top half, the Red Raiders finished in 10th place at the Big 12 Championships Saturday. Last year, they finished in ninth place.
However, the men are not fazed by the poor finish. In fact, Murray said it makes them want to keep pushing for better finishes in future races.
“They know it’s a waste of hard work if you’re not going to at least get out there and keep on trying,” said Murray, who was awarded his second consecutive Big 12 Conference Women’s Coach of the Year award Monday. “So, they just have great attitudes, a good spirit about themselves and are level-headed athletes that aren’t only successful in athletics but in academics. Just because one race doesn’t go as well as you wanted doesn’t mean it’s the end of the earth.”
Since Murray arrived at Tech in 2005, the Lady Raiders have been the more dominant of the two programs.
For the past two seasons, the men often have been in the Lady Raider’s shadow. Cory Higgins said at times it’s not easy, but he is always proud and pleased with the women’s success because of the exposure they bring to the team and sport.
So even though they have not had the same success, the Tech men are the Lady Raiders’ biggest supporters.
“It can be kinda difficult,” he said. “The girls are always in the limelight. That’s part of the girls and guys team being so close. I’m always happy for them whenever they do well and they’re excited when we do well also.”
Murray and the Lady Raiders have made the headlines with All-Americans such as Sally Kipyego and Lillian Badaru and five All-Big 12 runners, but the Red Raiders have fed off the women’s success with consistent improvement under Murray.
The Tech men entered the 2009 season with high expectations and a team full of experience.
But having that talent has not translated into the results they hoped for at the beginning of the season.
With the Mountain Regional Championships in sight on Nov. 14 in Albuquerque, N.M., the men’s team has put the past behind it and is looking to finally meet expectations.
With a chance to show Murray and the nation what they can do, Culotta said the past week of practice has been vital and the team wants to have a good showing at regionals.
Unable to show doubters what they are capable of, Higgins, who is a senior, said the Red Raiders have another chance to prove to outsiders they can be a consistently strong team.
“We look at the girls’ team and do the same workouts they do and work just as hard,” he said. “So we feel like we can do what they are doing. We came off of conference with some good workouts this week, everybody’s running well and excited about getting another shot, another race to prove ourselves.”
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