Kipruto Wins American Conference Championship, Jepkoech Named Freshman of the Year

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CONCORD, N.C. – Wichita State’s Elkana Kipruto claimed the American Conference men’s individual title, and Mercy Jepkoech was named the American Conference Women’s Freshman of the Year Saturday morning at the American Conference Championships at Frank Liske Park.
 
The Wichita State men finished third as Tulsa claimed its 11th men’s team title, and the Shocker women took fifth while Tulane took home its second women’s team championship. The Shockers placed five runners on the all-conference team and two on the all-freshman team.
 
Kipruto defeated the No. 5-ranked runner in the NCAA, Tulane’s Bernard Cheruiyot, to claim Wichita State’s first-ever American Conference men’s crown, running 23:16.6 in the 8K race.
 
“I’m really proud of him,” head coach Kirk Hunter said. “He’s my first individual champion on the men’s side, and he ran a spectacular race.”
 
The sophomore from Kapsabet, Kenya is the first Wichita State men’s conference cross country champion since Mornay Annandale won the Missouri Valley Conference title in 1992. Kipruto and Cheruiyot were neck-and-neck throughout the majority of the race, coming through every split less than a second apart, until Kipruto pulled away from the reigning champion in the final 250 meters of the race to win decisively by nine seconds.
 
“He ran very smart,” Hunter said. “He has a very high running IQ, and he took care of business and did things the right way against a spectacular athlete – Bernard is spectacular – so we’re really proud of him and very happy with his success today.”
 
Wichita State has now had an individual champion on either the men’s or women’s side in five of the nine American Conference Championships since the Shockers joined the league in 2017.
 
Sophomore Kelvin Kipyego and redshirt-senior Adrian Diaz Lopez joined Kipruto on the all-conference team as Kipyego finished sixth with a personal-best time of 23:47.0, and Diaz Lopez finished 12th with a time of 24:00.2. This marks Diaz Lopez’s second all-conference cross country award and the most Shocker men on an all-conference team since 2022.
 
Senior Zander Cobb finished just outside the top 15, placing 17th with a time of 24:14.8, and Jacob Meyers rounded out the scoring for the Shockers with a 23rd-place finish and a time of 24:27.2, helping the Shockers to a third-place team finish with 59 points.
 
Freshman Austin Carrera earned a spot on the conference’s first all-freshman team, finishing 30th with a time of 24:41.4.
 
In the women’s 6K, Mercy Jepkoech was the first Shocker to cross the line, finishing 10th with a time of 20:44.5 to earn all-conference recognition. The freshman from Eldoret, Kenya was the first true freshman in the race and was named the American Conference Women’s Freshman of the Year.
 
Redshirt-senior Lucy Ndungu also finished on the podium, running 20:48.5 to place 12th and earn her second cross country all-conference award.
 
Senior Sarah Bertry finished just outside the top 15, running 21:03.5 to take 18th, and sophomore Faith Ekart finished 48th with a time of 22:06.2. Junior Francesca Alvarado was the fifth Shocker across the line, running 22:16.3 to finish 52nd.
 
 MEN’S TEAM RESULTS

1. Tulsa                    35
2. Tulane                  41
3. Wichita State     59
4. Charlotte             96
5. Rice                      179
6. Temple                 197
7. Memphis             213
8. North Texas        237
9. UTSA                    258
10. South Florida      283
11. East Carolina      292
12. Florida Atlantic  360

WOMEN’S TEAM RESULTS

1. Tulane                  36
2. Rice                      72
3. Charlotte             78
4. Tulsa                    82
5. Wichita State     132
6. UAB                       209
7. East Carolina      218
8. North Texas        220
9. Florida Atlantic  267
10. South Florida      275
11. Memphis             307
12. UTSA                    341
13. Temple                 345

 
MEN’S ALL-CONFERENCE

1. Elkana “Elly” Kipruto, Wichita State – 23:16.6
2. Bernard Cheruiyot, Tulane – 23:25.6
3. Shay McEvoy, Tulsa – 23:32.4
4. Silas Kiptanui, Tulane – 23:38.8
5. Ben Brown, Tulsa – 23:40.2
6. Kelvin Kipyego, Wichita State – 23:47.0
7. Luke Birdseye, Tulsa – 23:52.3
8. Illia Kunin, Tulane – 23:52.3
9. Levi Rowan, Tulsa – 23:55.4
10. Charlie Krasnoff, Tulsa – 23:56.7
11. Bryce Anderson, Charlotte – 23:57.8
12. Adrian Diaz Lopez, Wichita State – 24:00.2
13. Tommy Rice, Tulane – 24:03.0
14. Andrew Harding, Charlotte (Freshman of the Year) – 24:03.7
15. Rogerio Amaral, Tulane – 24:12.8

 
WOMEN’S ALL-CONFERENCE

1. Evyn Humphrey, Tulsa – 20:04.1
2. Blezzin Kimutai, Tulane – 20:16.3
3. Oliwia Kopec, Rice – 20:31.4
4. Dorcas Naibei, Tulane – 20:36.0
5. Ella White, Charlotte – 20:36.2
6. Alex Gobran, Rice – 20:36.8
7. Cali Coffin, Charlotte – 20:37.6
8. Haley Harper, Tulane – 20:41.8
9. Petra Dos Santos, Tulane – 20:42.3
10. Mercy Jepkoech, Wichita State – 20:44.5
11. Kathryn Koonts, Tulsa – 20:45.1
12. Lucy Ndungu, Wichita State – 20:48.5
13. Janae Dean, Tulane – 20:53.5
14. Sara Morefield, Tulsa – 20:55.4
15. Abrielle Schweitzer, East Carolina – 20:59.2

 
MEN’S ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Andrew Harding, Charlotte (Freshman of the Year) – 24:03.7
Austin Carrera, Wichita State – 24:41.4
Connor Tyrrell, Charlotte – 25:16.0
Kasem Kaheal, Temple – 25:21.3
Ethan Carranza, UTSA – 25:33.4
 
WOMEN’S ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Mercy Jepkoech Wichita State – 20:44.6 (Freshman of the Year)
Dana Rojas Vazquez, Tulane – 21:07.2
Eliza Keith, Charlotte – 21:34.3
Jocelyn Karry, UTSA – 21:40.5
Aubrey Milam, North Texas – 22:07.9