Florida Cross Country Continues Strong Start
Florida cross country got a taste of the NCAA Championship course Saturday in Terre Haute, Indiana at the John McNichols Invitational. The UF men finished second out of 34 teams and the women finished fifth out of 28 teams.
The men’s team finished with 119 points and gapped third-place Washington by 71 points.
Florida sophomore Kelvin Cheruiyot, the 2025 men’s SEC Champion, had a historical victory. In ninth place through the 3,000-meter mark, he started to pick off runners to finish in fifth by the 5,000-meter mark.
Louisville’s Elsingi Kipruto looked like he was smooth sailing to secure the individual title until Cheruiyot came knocking. Kipruto glanced over his shoulder in fear as Cheruiyot came blazing down the line. His massive surge in the final stretch earned him the upset win in the final strides. Cheruiyot made his season debut for the Gators running 23:20.7 (8K) and beating Kipruto by 2.7 seconds.
Junior Geofrey Ronch was Florida’s next man across the line in ninth place with a time of 23:56.1. Josh Ruiz came in third for the Gators by running a steady progressive race. Ruiz was 56th through the 3,000-meter mark and cut down to a 17th-place finish in 24:05.0.
The final two scoring for the Gators were senior Ian Sanchez Lopez and junior Jonathon Leon, who finished 37th and 54th, respectively. Junior Riley Novack closed out the squad by finishing 131st.
On the women’s side Judy Chepkoech secured bronze for the Gators with a 19:30.8 (6K) finish. She made her season debut holding onto the lead pack the entire race. Working her way from sixth place at the 2,000-meter mark to third at the finish, she was able to safely secure her spot.
Edna Chelulei finished 11.8 seconds behind her in fourth place. The next to the line for Florida was Judy’s younger sister Desma Chepkoech. The sophomore finished fifth in 19:53.5 and ran within two places of her sister the entire race.
Sophomore Isobelle Jones was Florida’s third runner to the finish, running 20:49.0 and securing 31st place. Maggie McCormick was Florida’s first freshman across the line in 45th place. She was also the highest placing freshman for the Gators at the Stan Sims XC Opener earlier this season where she placed third overall.
Keeghan Edwards was the final scorer for the UF women’s team with her 21:33.9, 76th-place finish. Jazlyn Forbes, Mary Nesmith and Ashley Fitzgerald reigned in the group, finishing 111th, 113th and 129th,respectively.
The women finished with 156 points, 20 points in front of Washington.
Florida did not race any runners in the men’s or women’s open races at the meet.
The Gators’ next stage is set for the Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin on Oct. 9, the last race of their regular season.
Category: Gator Sports, Gators Cross Country
