Cross country
Sophomore Elkana Kipruto was the sole representative for Wichita State’s cross country team at the NCAA Championships in Columbia, Mo., on Saturday.
Kipruto’s top 10 finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional on Nov. 14 punched his ticket to the championship meet.
With multiple top five finishes throughout the season and breaking program records, Kipruto continued his storied run. His 28 minute, 57 second finish at the NCAA Championships notched him 24th place out of 261 runners, sending him further into the Shockers’ record books.
He became the first All-American on the men’s side since Mornay Annandale did it in 1992. Kipruto also broke Annandale’s 10-kilometer record of 29:28 in the process.
The NCAA Championship concluded the 2025 cross country season, but many Wichita State runners will return for the 2025-26 track and field season.
Women’s bowling
From Friday to Sunday, Wichita State’s women’s bowling competed in the Colonial Lanes Classic hosted by Tulane in Harahan, La.
The Shockers ended with a top five finish overall out of 16 teams, scoring a total of 13,000 pins over five Baker matches and five traditional matches.
Through the five Baker matches, the team racked up five wins on Friday against No. 2 Nebraska (1026-984), No. 12 Duquesne (1139-977), Prairie View A&M (1016-719), Jackson State (1034-989) and Texas Southern (869-781).
Coming back on Saturday with a 4-1 record across five traditional matches, Wichita State won over No. 8 Sam Houston (1049-1013), No. 4 Youngstown State (1071-974), No. 9 Louisiana Tech (1080-995) and Florida A&M (914-866). No. 6 Arkansas State gave the Shockers their only loss, 975-1032.
The team then entered Sunday with a 9-1 record, which put them against Arkansas State in a best-of-seven matchup. The Shockers fell short and lost 4-2, before facing Louisiana Tech for a third-place matchup in which they fell short via a 4-0 sweep.
But the team came back the next round and shut out No. 7 North Carolina A&T, 4-0, to place fifth.
Junior Aleesha Oden placed fourth in the individual standings with a total of 1,112 total pins, falling one pin short for a tie for third. Freshman Kendall Bollea placed 17th with a total of 1,033 pins.
Junior Ashtyn Woods came in 22nd place with a total of 1,011 pins. In 35th and 37th, respectively, were senior Paige Wagner and sophomore Morgan Kline.
The tournament wrapped up Wichita State women’s bowling’s schedule for the 2025 calendar year. They will be back in action from Jan. 16-18 at the Northeast Classic, hosted by Sacred Heart.
