WICHITA – Wichita State's Elkana Kipruto was recognized as the 2025 American Conference Cross Country Runner of the Year, the conference announced on Tuesday morning.
 
The sophomore from Kapsabet, Kenya recorded a historic season for the Shockers, winning the first American Conference men's title for Wichita State and becoming the first Wichita State man since 1992 to qualify for the NCAA Championships. At the national meet, Kipruto finished 24^th to be named All-American, the Shockers sixth-ever men's cross country All-America award and best finish of the season by an American Conference runner.
 
Kipruto earned all-conference and all-region honors, finishing seventh at the NCAA Midwest Regional to claim the first individual qualifying spot to the NCAA Championships. He broke both the Wichita State 8K and 10K records with season-best times of 22:45.6 and 28:57.0 and finished the season ranked No. 14 in the FloTrack rankings and No. 28 in the USTFCCCA XCRI.