Kiplagat, Nyathi finish in third at the Southern Showcase

Friday, September 12

Huntsville, Ala.

Middle Tennessee

Southern Showcase

9/13/2025 2:40:00 PM | Men's Cross Country and Track & Field, Women's Cross Country and Track & Field, Track & Field/Cross Country

By: Jayce Standridge, MTSU Athletic Communications

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Allan Kiplagat and Faith Nyathi each placed third at the Southern Showcase in Huntsville, Alabama on Friday morning.

Reigning All-American Kiplagat delivered a standout performance, clocking 23:22.7 — the fifth-fastest 8K time ever recorded at John Hunt Park. Brian Kiptoo (24:11.6) and Jacinto Gaspar (24:21.2) both finished inside the top 30, while Solomon Sayo followed close behind in 45th with a 24:38.8. Macdonald Songok, Gabe Allen, Juan Lucas, and Brendan Nagle rounded out the Blue Raider scoring.

Middle Tennessee State University placed sixth overall out of 48 teams, scoring 190 points in a field of 449 runners.

On the women's side, Nyathi impressed with a third-place finish, running 16:35.2. Odilia Jepchumba finished 36th in 17:30.7, followed by Eleanor Towe (164th, 18:41.1), Privilege Chikara (178th, 18:50.7), Hailee Gorham (203rd, 19:02.7), and Lauren Cole (213th, 19:08.2).

Coach Keith Vroman:
"We had really good individual performances with huge improvements from Jacinto (Gaspar) and Solomon (Sayo). Faith had a really good race too, but there is still work to be done."

Up Next
The Blue Raiders will travel to Louisville, Kentucky for the Louisville Classic on October 4.

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