NEW ORLEANS, La. – Wichita State cross country is set for the 2026 American Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Lake Oaks Park.
 
The women's 6K race kicks things off at 9:15 a.m., followed by the men's 8K at 10 a.m.
 
The Wichita State men are chasing their first American Conference team championship as they face what looks to be a close battle with Tulane and Tulsa. The Shockers' best men's team finishes came in 2021 and 2022 when they recorded back-to-back runner-up performances. Before joining the American Conference in 2017, the Shockers won eight Missouri Valley Championships on the men's side with the last win coming in 1987 under head coach John Kornelson. A season ago, Elkana Kipruto won the Shockers' first American Conference men's individual title. The junior looks to defend his title after going on to earn All-America recognition in 2025. A win for Kipruto would make him just the third runner in the history of the conference to claim back-to-back men's titles. Wichita State senior Nicholas Kipchirchir will also be battling for the top spot at this year's American Conference Championships. Kipruto and Kipchirchir have both been the first Shocker to cross the line throughout the regular season as the pair aims to fend off Tulane's Silas Kiptanui and Bernard Cheruiyot and go 1-2 in the American.  The Shockers also return 2025 all-conference performer, Kelvin Kipyego, and all-freshman team member, Austin Carrera, while adding Arizona State transfer Dennis Rono to their top five. Wichita State defeated Tulane in a larger field at the Pre-National Invitational earlier this season, but the Green Wave's Silas Kiptanui secured the individual win over Kipruto (2^nd) and Kipchirchir (3^rd). The Shockers earned their first national team ranking in the history of the USTFCCCA National Coaches' poll, coming in at No. 24 after a fourth-place finish at Pre-Nats.
 
Vivien Kipkorir has led the Wichita State women all season long, winning the JK Gold Classic, finishing 17^th at the Gans Creek Classic and 63^rd at the Pre-National Invitational. The Shockers return 2025 all-conference performer and American Conference Freshman of the Year Mercy Jepkoech. A season ago, the Shockers finished fifth as a team with 132 points. Wichita State won the team title in 2018 and have claimed four American Conference women's individual titles, most recently in 2021.
 
AMERICAN CONFERENCE ACCOLADES
Nicholas Kipchirchir was named the American Conference Athlete of the Week following a third-place finish at the Gans Creek Classic.
 
SHOCKERS IN THE RANKINGS
The Wichita State men are ranked No. 24 in the USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll and No. 4 in the USTFCCCA Midwest Region rankings.
In the national XCRI, Nicholas Kipchirchir and Elkana Kipruto are ranked 34^th and 37^th, respectively.
 
AMERICAN CONFERENCE PRESEASON COACHES POLL
The Shocker men were picked to finish third behind Tulane and Tulsa, receiving two first-place votes, while the women were selected to finish fifth behind Tulane, Tulsa, Rice and Charlotte.