TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Under the direction of Director of Track & Field and Cross Country
Jimmy Joseph, as well as Cross Country Head Coach Dr.
Donald Bond, Alcorn Men's and Women's Cross Country is gearing up for the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Cross Country Championships taking place Monday, Oct. 24, at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida.
The Alcorn Women's Cross Country Team is looking to repeat as conference champions, as sophomore
Stellah Kiptui has been named SWAC Runner of the Week a league-most three times throughout the duration of the current 2022 campaign.
"We want to go out and compete to the best if our ability," stated Joseph to the media on Sunday afternoon. "Coach [Donald] Bond has done a great job preparing these student-athletes thus far.
"We would like to run smart, stay consistent and do our best representing Alcorn State University."
The men's race will begin at 8 a.m., and it will be run as an 8K event. Meanwhile, the women's race begins at 9 a.m.., and it will serve as a 5K event.
The Alcorn Men's Cross Country squad has never won a SWAC title, while Grambling State and Jackson State have each won two – totaling four overall combined, of the previous six championship races. No race was held in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.
On the women's side, Alcorn won its first-ever cross country title in 2021. Prior to the Braves taking home to trophy last season, Alabama State had won 13 titles in the women's event since the turn of the century.
Complete results for both the men's and women's races at this year's SWAC Cross Country Championships can be accessed
here.
Last Time Out for the Braves (Men & Women)
- Alcorn's Stellah Kiptui registered a seventh-place finish, helping Alcorn Women's Cross Country as part of the Crimson Classic taking place at the Harry Pritchett Running Course on the campus of the University of Alabama. As a team, the women finished 15th in the field, while the men turned in a 14th place showing.
- Kiptui, a 5-foot-2 sophomore from Kabarnet, Kenya, garnered a seventh-place finish for the event, crossing the finish line in a time of 20:29.90. Meanwhile, fellow sophomore Runelda Jackson, a 5-foot-7 native of Belle Glade, Florida, crossed in a time of 22:05.60, allowing her to place 66th overall in the field.
- Also running well for the Braves on Friday was sophomore Samouya Nevers, crossing in a time of 24:46.70, followed closely by teammate Akili Pleas-Carne ending with a time of 25:47.20 on the day.
- In the men's competition, ran as an 8,075-meter event, there featured more than 150 student-athletes from 16 different schools. Alcorn was paced by sophomore Bethwel Limo of Eldoret, Kenya, as the Grambling State transfer registered a time of 28:01.70.
- Marciano Taylor and Jeremiah Wingate were right behind each other in the scoring for the Braves, as Taylor finished in 29:09.20, followed directly by Wingate's time of 29:11.60.
- Elijah Anderson was another scorer for the Braves, as he crossed the finish line at 30:55.70, while freshman Chemar McGhee had a time of 31:52.10.
- The men's team finished 14th overall in the field with 437 points.
The Field
- The men's field, which will race over eight kilometers, features the Alcorn Braves joined by Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M, Grambling State, Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State, Prairie View A&M, Southern (La.), Texas Southern and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
- The women's race, which will cover 5 kilometers, features the Alcorn Braves joined by Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M, Grambling State, Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State, Prairie View A&M, Southern (La.), Texas Southern and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Last Year's Championship Recap (for Alcorn)
- For the first time in school history, Alcorn Women's Cross Country brought home the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) title in 2021, finishing the meet with 68 points, and a total of four runners ranking in the top 10 of the annual event.
- Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Jimmy Joseph was named the SWAC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year – the first Alcorn head coach to ever achieve this honor in the sport of cross country in the SWAC, while the steady duo of Runelda Jackson and Daisy Enriquez earned SWAC First Team honors.
- Fellow Braves Samouya Nevers and Stellah Kiptui were named to the second team.
- For this achievement from the Braves, Mississippi Speaker Phillip Gunn, Lieutenant Governor Delbert Horseman, Representatives Jeffery Harness, Alice Clark, Gregory Holloway, Karl Gibbs, Orlando Paden, and Senators Sarita Simmons and Albert Butler invited the Alcorn women's cross country team to the state capitol while a resolution was signed in their honor.
- Over on the men's side, the Braves finished eighth at the 2021 Men's Cross Country Championships, as Elijah Anderson finished in the top 30 with a time of 5:41.6 overall.
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