CONCORD, N.C. – Wichita State cross country heads to Concord, N.C. for the 2025 American Conference Championships Saturday, Nov. 1 at Frank Liske Park.
 
The men will race an 8K at 8:15 a.m. CT, followed by the women's 6K at 9 a.m. CT. The top 15 individual finishers in each race will be named All-Conference, and the top true freshman finisher of each race will be named American Conference Freshman of the Year. New this year, the top five true freshmen will be named to the all-freshman team.
 
The races will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live stats available here.
 
Elkana Kipruto has led the Shocker men in all three of his races this season, winning the JK Gold Classic and Greeno/Dirksen Invitational and finishing second at the Pre-National Invitational. Kipruto will compete against reigning champion Bernard Cheruiyot of Tulane for the individual title. Cheruiyot ranks fifth in the USTFCCCA national XCRI with a season and personal best 8K time of 22:32.4, and Kipruto ranks 13^th with a season best and school record 8K time of 22:45.6 and a personal best time of 22:29.5 from last season.
 
The reigning champion Green Wave men are the favorite to win the team title, ranking 18^th in the national coaches' poll, but Wichita State will battle for a high team finish as Tulane, Tulsa, and the Shockers all bring strong squads. Wichita State defeated No. 22 Arkansas to finish seventh at the Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 18 and hope to bring what they learned from that race to the conference championship.
 
Lucy Ndungu returns to the American Conference Championship in her final season after redshirting the 2024 season due to injury. Tulsa's Evyn Humphrey ranks 51^st in the XCRI and could give Tulsa its second women's title. Ndungu, the 2023 runner up, and Tulane's Blezzin Kimutai, the 2024 runner up and Freshman of the Year, will also battle for the crown, along with Tulane's Dorcas Naibei and Wichita State freshman Mercy Jepkoech. Tulsa and Tulane will battle it out for the women's team title as Tulsa looks to defend its title and Tulane seeks to regain the trophy.
 
TEAMS IN THE USTFCCCA NATIONAL COACHES' POLL
No. 18 Tulane Men
No. 29 Tulane Women
 
INDIVIDUALS IN THE USTFCCCA XCRI TOP 100
MEN
No. 5 Bernard Cheruiyot – Tulane
No. 13 Elkana Kipruto – Wichita State
WOMEN
No. 51 Evyn Humphrey – Tulsa
 
MEN'S TEAMS IN THE USTFCCCA RANKINGS
MIDWEST REGION
No. 6 Tulsa
No. 8 Wichita State
 
SOUTH REGION
No. 14 Memphis
 
SOUTH CENTRAL REGION
No. 1 Tulane
No. 11 Rice
No. 15 North Texas
 
SOUTHEAST REGION
No. 9 Charlotte
 
WOMEN'S TEAMS IN THE USTFCCCA RANKINGS
MIDWEST REGION
No. 10 Tulsa
No. 15 Wichita State
 
SOUTH CENTRAL REGION
No. 1 Tulane
No. 8 Rice
 
SOUTHEAST REGION
No. 15 Charlotte
 
PREVIOUSLY AT THE AMERICAN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Wichita State has won four American Conference individual titles and one team title, all women. The Shocker women won the 2018 team title with 63 points, led by Winny Koskei, who won the 2018, 2019 and 2020 individual championship. Yazmine Wright continued the tradition of winning in 2021, giving the Shockers four-straight titles. Most recently, Lucy Ndungu was the runner up in 2023, and Sarah Bertry was all-conference in 2024. The best men's finishes came in 2021 and 2022 when they finished second as a team. Last year, the men took fourth and the women took sixth.