Cross Country | 9/3/2026 12:01:00 PM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
Festus, Mo., roots helped when Jonah Allison decided he wanted to run and study engineering at a new school. High school rival Jacob Meyers pitched a reunion in Kansas.
 
"It seems like a perfect fit, very practical to give Wichita State a shot," Meyers said.
 
Festus, a city of around 12,000 south of St. Louis, is a cross country hotbed. Meyers finished second as a senior for the Tigers in the 2021 Missouri Class 4 cross country meet to help them win an eighth straight title. In track and field, he won four races in the 2022 Class 4 meet.
 

In 2022, Hillsboro High School, located 10 miles from Festus, won the boys title to snap Festus' streak. Allison placed third.
 
"(Meyers) was going into Coach (Steve) Rainbolt's office multiple times a week to put my name in his ear," Allison said. "I had a phone call with (Rainbolt) and then I didn't even come down to visit. I signed."
 
Wichita State opens the season at the JK Gold Classic on Saturday at Clapp Cross Country Course. The men's 6-kilometer race starts at 8 a.m., followed by the women's 5K and high school races.
 
This fall, Meyers, a fifth-year, and Allison, a senior who transferred from Southern Illinois in 2024, hope to run on a cross country team also capable of a memorable season. The Shockers are picked third, with two first-place votes, in the American Conference.
 
Ahead of WSU is Tulane, which won the NCAA South Central Regional and finished second in the conference in 2025, and Tulsa, which has won 11 of the past 12 American titles. Tulsa is ranked No. 18 with Tulane No. 22 nationally.
 
Tulane and Tulsa are private schools who focus scholarship money on distance runners and don't aim for a complete track and field roster. That puts Wichita State at a disadvantage with 10 runners on the cross country rosters, seven less than the NCAA limit that Tulane and Tulsa will use. With conference champion Elkana Kipruto and three other conference finishers back, coach Kirk Hunter sees a path for the Shockers to challenge for their first men's title since the 1987 team won the Missouri Valley Conference.
 
"If we line up healthy, I think they're going to be worried about us," Hunter said. "But we've got to get through the season healthy. We can't lose a single person."
 
The Shockers finished third last season. Meyers and Allison also see enough talent on the roster to contend. Kipruto is the first Shocker male to win a conference cross country title and earn All-American honors since 1992 (Mornay Annandale). Kelvin Kipyego finished sixth in the American last fall. Meyers finished 23rd with Allison at No. 28 and Austin Carrera 30^th.
 

"Since I've been here, this is probably the most experienced, mature team we've had," Allison said. "Go for a conference championship. Then, hopefully, get to the NCAA's."
 
Two newcomers should help in a major way. Nicholas Kipchirchir, a transfer from Virginia Tech, finished fourth in the 10,000 meters in the ACC track and field meet last spring and 20^th in the ACC cross country meet. Dennis Rono finished 40th in the Big 12 cross country meet for Arizona State in 2025.

"(Kipchirchir) will challenge Elkana any day – he's already ran faster than Elly," Hunter said.

Meyers, Allison, Carrera and Greyson Ellensohn are runners who can make a big difference scoring, if they stay healthy and peak at the right time, behind the top Shockers. Last fall, Tulsa placed five runners in the top 10 and two more in the top 20. Tulane placed five in the top 15 and two more in the top 21.

"Everything is focused on November," Meyers said. "We're definitely in a very good position for the opportunity ahead."
 
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
 
Season tickets are on sale now, and season ticket renewals are available as well. To purchase, visit GoShockers.com/Tickets, dial 316-978-FANS (3267) or stop by the Shocker Ticket Office, located inside Charles Koch Arena, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.