Friday, September 4
College Station, Texas
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Baylor
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Aggie Opener
Baylor XC Beginning Season at Aggie Opener
9/3/2026 1:16:00 PM | Cross Country
Upperclassmen dominate lineups for the Bears’ first meet
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – With one of his most experienced rosters, Baylor cross country coach David Barnett will begin his sixth season at the helm with the first of four trips down Highway 6 for Friday night's Aggie Opener.
Barnett will use only two underclassmen, both on the women's side, for Friday's races at Texas A&M's Watts Course. The women will kick things off with a two-mile run starting at 6:45 p.m., followed by the men's 5,000-meter race at 7:15 p.m.
"With experience, you get a lot more consistency," Barnett said. "It's not as big of a gap between your best race and your second-best race. I'm definitely excited to see the upperclassmen step in and put it out there, and I think the underclassmen will definitely follow their lead. So, I'm excited."
Led by track second-team All-American Ruth Kimeli, who has qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championship in each of her first two seasons, the women have a chance to field their best team since finishing third at regional and qualifying two individuals for nationals in 2017.
Kimeli, who is sitting out this week, is joined by former Texas transfer Mackenize Browne and Eastern Kentucky transfer Khadijah Ennasri to give the Bears a solid top three.
"On paper, it is definitely the best top three as far as track times are concerned," Barnett said. "Anytime you have national qualifiers coming back, that's a big deal. This is definitely one of the best groups of people we've had here at Baylor."
After a promising start with a top-10 finish at the season-opening Gerald Richey Invitational at UTA last season, Browne wasn't able to finish the next meet and had to undergo heart surgery that knocked her out of the rest of the cross country season and most of the track season as well.
Browne and Ennasri, who won individual titles last season at the EKU and Asbury Invitational, will be joined by juniors Ella Perry, Rickeisha Simms and Lucy Benton. The only underclassmen running this weekend are sophomore returner Evanna Jacobsen and her younger sister, freshman Jenna Jacobsen.
On the men's side, junior Jack Sterrett from nearby Midway High School, was the Bears' No. 1 runner in each of the team's first four meets last season and the team's only runner at the NCAA South Central Regional. He will be joined by fellow juniors Caden Biltz and Straton Miller and seniors Ben Archer and Nolan Keenan.
"Jack is probably our top guy, but we have a couple other guys that are in a similar situation," Barnett said. "We had a couple guys that were all-region a few years ago, and I think we have a couple seniors that can do the same type of thing this year. If you can get a couple guys that are all-region, all of a sudden, you have a really good opportunity to have a good team. I'm excited to see what Jack and some of the older guys can do."
Besides Baylor and the host Aggies, the six-team meet includes Houston, Houston Christian, Texas Southern and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Live results for the meet are available HERE.
For the latest news on the Baylor cross country team all year long, follow its official Facebook, X and Instagram accounts: @BaylorTrack.
- Baylorbears.com
Barnett will use only two underclassmen, both on the women's side, for Friday's races at Texas A&M's Watts Course. The women will kick things off with a two-mile run starting at 6:45 p.m., followed by the men's 5,000-meter race at 7:15 p.m.
"With experience, you get a lot more consistency," Barnett said. "It's not as big of a gap between your best race and your second-best race. I'm definitely excited to see the upperclassmen step in and put it out there, and I think the underclassmen will definitely follow their lead. So, I'm excited."
Led by track second-team All-American Ruth Kimeli, who has qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championship in each of her first two seasons, the women have a chance to field their best team since finishing third at regional and qualifying two individuals for nationals in 2017.
Kimeli, who is sitting out this week, is joined by former Texas transfer Mackenize Browne and Eastern Kentucky transfer Khadijah Ennasri to give the Bears a solid top three.
"On paper, it is definitely the best top three as far as track times are concerned," Barnett said. "Anytime you have national qualifiers coming back, that's a big deal. This is definitely one of the best groups of people we've had here at Baylor."
After a promising start with a top-10 finish at the season-opening Gerald Richey Invitational at UTA last season, Browne wasn't able to finish the next meet and had to undergo heart surgery that knocked her out of the rest of the cross country season and most of the track season as well.
Browne and Ennasri, who won individual titles last season at the EKU and Asbury Invitational, will be joined by juniors Ella Perry, Rickeisha Simms and Lucy Benton. The only underclassmen running this weekend are sophomore returner Evanna Jacobsen and her younger sister, freshman Jenna Jacobsen.
On the men's side, junior Jack Sterrett from nearby Midway High School, was the Bears' No. 1 runner in each of the team's first four meets last season and the team's only runner at the NCAA South Central Regional. He will be joined by fellow juniors Caden Biltz and Straton Miller and seniors Ben Archer and Nolan Keenan.
"Jack is probably our top guy, but we have a couple other guys that are in a similar situation," Barnett said. "We had a couple guys that were all-region a few years ago, and I think we have a couple seniors that can do the same type of thing this year. If you can get a couple guys that are all-region, all of a sudden, you have a really good opportunity to have a good team. I'm excited to see what Jack and some of the older guys can do."
Besides Baylor and the host Aggies, the six-team meet includes Houston, Houston Christian, Texas Southern and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Live results for the meet are available HERE.
For the latest news on the Baylor cross country team all year long, follow its official Facebook, X and Instagram accounts: @BaylorTrack.
- Baylorbears.com
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