Baylor student-athlete Jonathan Tijerina has been named the 2014 Big 12 Men's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as selected by the league's coaches.

Led by the fifth-place finish of senior Rachel Johnson, the 28th-ranked Baylor women's cross country team placed 19th at the NCAA Championships on Saturday at the LaVern Gibson Course.

Following its second-place finish at the regional meet, the Baylor women's cross country team will be one of 31 squads running at the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind.

For the first time since 2009, the Baylor women's cross country team is headed back to the NCAA Championships, after earning an automatic berth to that event with a second-place showing in the NCAA South Central Regional Championships Friday at Agri Park.

Todd Harbour typically spends months, sometimes years, trying to recruit the best athletes and sell them on Baylor. But with Mariah Kelly, those roles were reversed.

For only the third time in the last 12 seasons, Baylor cross country will not be hosting the NCAA South Central Regional. BU's teams will travel to Agri Park in Fayetteville, Ark., to compete in the event on Friday.