COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Even with all of the races and awards University of Colorado senior Jenny Barringer has won, one title has always eluded her: Big 12 cross country champ.

She added that one to her list on her fourth try on Saturday, cruising to a 45-second victory at the Big 12 Championships at A.L. Gustin Golf Course.

She led from the start and never looked back to lead the Buffs to second place in the women`s team race. The CU men also took second thanks to all five of their scorers placing in the top 15.

Barringer covered the 6-kilometer women`s course in 20 minutes, 27.46 seconds. CU freshman Allie McLaughlin finished second.

Barringer finished as the Big 12 runner-up in 2005, 2006 and 2007 before redshirting last year after competing at the Beijing Olympics.

"This took me five years," said Barringer, who has won three Big 12 titles on the track. "It took me three years of college to get to the Olympics and five years of cross country to get to the Big 12 championship. It means a lot, and it means that I came back with a really strong team. This is absolutely the most fun race I`ve had in college so far. It was a really fun day."

One big reason for Barringer`s delay in topping the conference was Texas Tech ace Sally Kipyego, who won Big 12 and national titles in 2006, 2007 and 2008 before graduating.

"She would have had one or two other good opportunities to win this had it not been for one of the greatest cross country runners in the history of the NCAA, Sally Kipyego of Texas Tech," CU coach Mark Wetmore said. "This was hers today, and I could tell that she really enjoyed it."

Barringer became the first Buff to win the conference crown since 2005, when Christine Bolf beat her to the line. After that race, Barringer was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, an honor McLaughlin took home Saturday.

On a hilly, muddy course, McLaughlin passed Iowa State`s Lisa Koll with about 300 meters to go to take second in 21:13.36.

"We expect Allie to be very high up in any race she enters," Wetmore said.

Junior Laura Thweat finished 12th for CU as the Buffs finished with 52 team points.

Texas Tech won for the second year in a row with 38 points.

Thanks to a 1-2-3-4 finish, Oklahoma State won on the men`s side with 24 points -- 32 ahead of CU.

Kenyon Neuman led the way for the Buffs, taking seventh on the 8K course in a time of 25:10.33. Christian Thompson took ninth in 25:18.33, and Junior Richard Medina finished 12th in 25:22.72.

"There isn`t any way for me to review the race plan and pretend that we could have won today," Wetmore said of the men`s race. "Oklahoma State is an excellent team and nearly shut us out. We can run better than we did, but we weren`t beating OSU on this course today."

CU returns to action Nov. 14 at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships in Albuquerque, N.M.

Big 12 Championships

At A.L Gustin Golf Course, Columbia, Mo.

MEN`S 8K

Team scores -- 1. Oklahoma State, 24; 2. Colorado, 56; 3. Oklahoma, 75; 4. Iowa State, 107; 5. Texas, 132; 6. Texas A&M, 171; 7. Nebraska, 199; 8. Kansas, 237; 8. Missouri, 237; 10. Texas Tech, 278; 11. Baylor, 282; 12. Kansas State, 354.

Top 15 individuals -- 1. Ryan Vail, OSU, 24:50.67; 2. John Kosgei, OSU, 24:52.26; 3. Colby Lowe, OSU, 24:55.25; 4. German Fernandez, OSU, 24:57.83; 5. Guor Marial, ISU, 25:04.82; 6. Kevin Schwab, OU, 25:08.32; 7. Kenyon Neuman, CU, 25:10.33; 8. Hillary Bor, ISU, 25:18.52; 9. Christian Thompson, CU, 25:18.83; 10. Bill Kogel, OU, 25:20.65; 11. Robert Sorrell, OU, 25:22.12; 12. Richard Medina, CU, 25:22.72; 13. Andy Wacker, CU, 25:25.03; 14. Girma Mecheso, OSU, 25:30.53; 15. Jordan Kyle, CU, 25:31.90.

Other CU Finishers -- 19. Joe Bosshard, 25:36.92; 21. Aric Van Halen,25:42.22; 32. Matt Tebo, 25:53.65; 54. Martin Medina, 26:25.14.

WOMEN`S 6K

Team scores -- 1. Texas Tech, 38; 2. Colorado, 52; 3. Iowa State, 85; 4. Nebraska, 143; 5. Kansas, 160; 6. Kansas State, 170; 7. Baylor, 174; 8. Texas, 210; 9. Missouri, 212; 10. Oklahoma State, 224; 11. Texas A&M, 243; 12. Oklahoma, 340.

Top 15 individuals -- 1. Jenny Barringer, CU, 20;27.46; 2. Allie McLaughlin, CU, 21:13.36; 3. Lisa Koll, ISU, 21:17.45; 4. Lillian Badaru, TTU, 21:22.35; 5. Purity Biwott, TTU, 21:34.83; 6. Beverly Ramos, KSU, 21:24.79; 7. Gladys Kipsang, TTU, 21:41.51; 8. Erin Bedell, BU, 21:44.91; 9. Caroline Karunde, TTU, 21:46.51; 10. Lauren Bonds, KU, 21:46.52; 11. Kaitie Vanatta, MU, 21:48.31; 12. Laura Thweatt, CU, 21:52.84; 13. Winrose Karunde, TTU, 21:56.41` 14. Sydney Messick, KSU, 21:59.60; 15. Laura Tremblay, CU, 22:06.39.

Other CU Finishers: 22. Emma Coburn, 22:20.36; 29. Emily Hanenburg, 22:36.87; 33. Katie Cumming, 22:39.67; 44. Allison Sawyer, 23:00.77.