Florida Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Headed to NCAA Championships
Florida men’s and women’s cross country are headed to the main stage.
Both teams finished second at the NCAA DI South Regionals in Tallahassee, securing automatic bids to the 2026 NCAA Championships. This is the first time both teams will make the trip together since 2006, and the first time both teams have received automatic bids since 1997.
This year’s South Regional marked the first time the men’s team has finished in the top five since their third-place finish in 2015. The team will make its first appearance at the NCAA Championship meet since 2013, the last time they earned an automatic bid.
Sophomore Kelvin Cheruiyot headlined Florida’s 54-point performance, finishing first overall in the meet. He won his second straight South Regional title and second consecutive postseason meet. His time of 29:01.5 (10K) was a 7.6 second improvement from his winning time of 29:09.1 last year and set a course record by 29 seconds.
He sat in 14th place at the 2.17K mark and slid into second place at the 8K. He moved into first place with about 500 meters left in the race and held his position through the tape.
The lead pack was decked out in Gator Blue and Alabama Crimson as Cheruiyot and freshman Eliud Muchiri held their own and Alabama placed four men in the top nine overall.
Alabama’s Dennis Kipruto claimed second place behind Cheruiyot, facing a touch of deja vu. Earlier this season at the John McNichols Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana, Cheruiyot had a photo finish, surging in the final stretch to surpass Kipruto in the final strides and win by 2.7 seconds.
The two will battle again back up north in Terre Haute at the NCAA Championships.
Muchiri finished fifth overall for the Florida men with a time of 29:07.9 and held the first place position throughout the 9K mark. He raced alongside Cheruiyot for the majority of the race.
The squad of Jonathan Leon, Oussama Allaoui and Josh Ruiz finished 15th, 16th and 17th, respectively, to close out scoring for the Gators. The three finished within six-tenths-of-a-second of each other. Leon ran a 30:11.2, Allaoui a 30:11.3 and Ruiz a 30:11.8. They focused on pack running the entire race, starting off in places 34 through 38 at the 1.17K mark.
Geofrey Ronoh was the sixth man for Florida finishing shortly behind the rest in 19th place with a time of 30:11.9, just a tenth of a second behind Ruiz.
All men won All-Region honors for placing within the top-25 individuals.
The women’s team finished with 74 points in their second-place performance, despite last year’s fifth-place finisher junior Judy Chepkoech not racing.
Sophomore Desma Chepkoech was the first to cross the line for Florida, with a ninth place finish in 19:51.6 (6K). She held a top-10 spot throughout the entire race. Sophomore Claire Stegall finished next for the Gators, 11th overall with a time of 19:58.4.
Closely behind were the final three scoring for Florida: freshman Maggie McCormick, junior Reagan Gilmore and sophomore Isobelle Jones. They finished 16th, 18th and 20th respectively.
The five scorers on the women’s side all received All-Region honors.
Sophomore Keeghan Edwards finished 49th and freshman Mary Nesmith finished 62nd.
Both teams will close out the season on Nov. 21 in Terre Haute at the national meet. The women will return to the NCAA Championships as a team for the fourth consecutive year.
Category: Gator Sports, Gators Cross Country
