Collins Kiprop Kipngok to Race at NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday

MADISON, Wis. – Collins Kiprop Kipngok will cap his stellar freshman cross country season on Saturday morning, as the Nakuru, Kenya native tackles the elite 10k field at the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships. The championship will be televised live and uninterrupted on ESPNU, starting at 9:30 a.m. ET, with the Men’s 10k Race scheduled for a 11:10 a.m. ET start time.

The national meet, featuring a Kentucky runner in the Men’s 10k for the first time since 2016, is being run at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wisconsin. This is the third time that Wisconsin has hosted the NCAA Cross Country Championships, with the Zimmer Championships Course hosting its second championship and first since 2018.

31 teams and 38 individuals qualified for the national meet through performances across the nine NCAA Regionals. Kiprop Kipngok earned his first NCAA appearance via a fourth-place finish at last week’s NCAA Southeast Regional in Rock Hill, S.C. The Kenyan battled through muddy conditions to complete his first collegiate 10k in 29:51.3, good enough to finish as the top individual qualifier out of the region. Furthermore, his fourth-place performance was made even more impressive when six teams—tied for the most in the country—advanced out of the Southeast Region to the National Championships.

This season, Kiprop Kipngok has set or improved personal best times at all five of his races this season, earned USTFCCCA All-Region and SEC All-Freshman team honors, and took home the individual title at the Bradley Pink Classic in a meet record time. Following his regional performance, FloTrack ranked Kiprop Kipngok No. 24 in the nation ahead of Saturday’s contest.

In addition to the quest for the individual national title, All-American status will be on the line Saturday, with the top forty finishers earning the coveted laurel.