AMES, Iowa – Wichita State cross country's sights are set on a making a postseason run as the Shockers are ready to race at the 2026 NCAA Midwest Regional, hosted by Iowa State on Friday.
 
The women's 6K race starts things off at 11:00 a.m., followed by the men's 10K at noon at the Iowa State Cross Country Course.
 
The top two teams in each of the nine regionals automatically advance to the NCAA Championships, while 14 more at-large teams will be chosen by the NCAA DI Cross Country Subcommittee to fill out a 32-team field. At-large teams are based firstly on their performance at regionals, making the third-place and fourth-place teams the most likely candidates, but regular and postseason results will combine to create a detailed resume of a team's performance throughout the season to be considered by the committee.
 
The first four individual finishers who finished in the top 25 at each regional and who do not belong to an automatic qualifier or at-large team automatically earn a spot at the NCAA Championships, and two more at-large individuals who are the highest placing individuals across all regionals will be selected to round out a total of 38 individual qualifiers. The top-25 individual finishers from each region will earn All-Region recognition.
 
The Wichita State men (RV) aim to earn their first team bid to the NCAA Championships since 1975 as they take on a tough Midwest Region in the first 10K race of the season. The Shockers dropped to No. 6 in the most recent USTFCCCA regional rankings after reaching No. 4 in the previous poll. Four USTFCCCA national top-30 teams sit atop the Midwest Region rankings, led by No. 3 Oklahoma State. Host and No. 10 Iowa State ranks second in the region, No. 22 Minnesota ranks third and American Conference rival and No. 30 Tulsa ranks fourth.
 
The Shocker men recorded their best regional team finish in 1981 when they took fourth at the NCAA District V meet. Their highest team finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional and best in the Kirk Hunter era came in 2022 when they finished fifth.
 
Oklahoma State's Denis Kipngetich ranks No. 1 in the latest national XCRI and is the favorite to win the Midwest Regional individual title, while Wichita State's Elkana Kipruto and Nicholas Kipchirchir enter as the No. 35 and No. 41-ranked individuals in the nation and third and fourth fastest in the region. The Shockers will look to Dennis Rono, Kelvin Kipyego, Austin Carrera, Greyson Ellensohn and Landen O'Neill to finish in low-scoring positions to give the team a chance to advance.
 
The Wichita State women enter the NCAA Midwest Regional unranked, but Vivien Kipkorir, who has led the Shocker women all season long, comes in as the No. 25 ranked runner in the region. Kipkorir is coming off a third-place finish at the American Conference Championships, where she earned all-conference recognition and is seeking All-Region honors and a shot at an individual bid to nationals.
 
The Shocker women's best regional placement came in 2005 when the team finished fourth.
 
AMERICAN CONFERENCE ACCOLADES
Nicholas Kipchirchir was named the American Conference Athlete of the Week following a third-place finish at the Gans Creek Classic.
Four Shockers earned all-conference honors at the American Conference Championships. Elkana Kipruto recorded a runner-up finish, Nicholas Kipchirchir finished fourth, Dennis Rono took sixth and Vivien Kipkorir finished third.
 
SHOCKERS IN THE RANKINGS
The Wichita State men are receiving votes in the week six USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll after earning their first team ranking in the history of the poll the previous week. The Shockers come in at No. 6 in the week six USTFCCCA Midwest Region rankings.
In the national XCRI, Nicholas Kipchirchir and Elkana Kipruto are ranked 35^th and 41^st, respectively.