Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Dec 26, 20239 min
Christmas has concluded and New Years is right around the corner, but we are by no means short on content! Below, we wanted to highlight a few highly-talented international names who will eventually be making their way over to the NCAA. Here's how the following distance standouts could impact their new homes moving forward...
NOTE: Unless noted otherwise, The Stride Report does not have any knowledge regarding the status of certain visas for international student-athletes. While many of these athletes are signed, TSR is acting under the assumption that their visas have been / will be approved.
Alabama has announced that they have signed two talented overseas distance runners, both from Kenya. Allan Kiplagat is expected to join the Crimson Tide this winter while Dennis Kipruto could join as soon as this winter, but possibly in the fall of 2024.
The recent additions conveniently align with former Alabama star, Eliud Kipsang, signing with Adidas and joining Tinman Elite earlier this month.
Allan Kiplagat will venture to Tuscaloosa with an eye-catching 8:41 PR in the steeplechase, per Alabama athletics. In the grand scheme of things, that's a bigger deal than some people may realize.
The SEC has lacked nationally competitive steeplechase talents as of late, failing to send a single men's individual to the national meet in that event last spring. By simply introducing someone like Kiplagat to their program, the Alabama men can take advantage of a relatively thin SEC steeple field and maximize their scoring output in that event.
Not only that, but Texas A&M recently landed a steeplechase superstar in Victor Kibiego, the bronze medalist over the barriers and water pits at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships. While taking down the Aggies' newest distance star will be a major challenge, Kiplagat does allow Alabama to stay in contention for 10 points in that event at the SEC Outdoor Championships.
Separately, Dennis Kipruto joins Alabama with a head-turning half-marathon PR of 60:51, per Crimson Tide athletics (TSR was unable to independently verify). Should his visa be cleared in time, Kipruto will join the Alabama men as soon as this winter.
Without any other results to review, it's hard to know exactly how good Kipruto can/will be in 2024. However, for perspective, only one American ran faster than Kipruto's PR in 2023. That was Abbabiya Simbassa in a time of 60:42 (although his PR is a few seconds faster than that).
On paper, Kipruto's skillset screams that he is probably a 10k specialist who can also drop down to the 5k and be nearly as effective (in theory). And on the cross country course, we may be looking at the next All-American Alabama star who can capitalize on the current athletic primes of Victor Kiprop and Hillary Cheruiyot (assuming both men return next fall).
But possibly the most important development in all of this is that Alabama may have a fourth heavy-hitter on the grass. If Kiprop and Cheriyot do return next fall, and Kipruto and Kiplagat are as good as advertised, then any prior concerns that we've had about Alabama's depth may become more and more negligible.
In theory, Alabama could have four cross country All-Americans in November, a theoretical set of results that could potentially put them on the podium 11-ish months from now. Of course, delivering on the national stage and establishing greater consistency will not be easy with two overseas rookies who will still be settling into their new collegiate environments.
Do the Alabama women have a new "Big Three?"
That certainly seems to be the case given that Kenyan rookie, Brenda Tuwei, will be joining the Crimson Tide starting this winter. The incoming Alabama runner is expected to be a true freshman upon arrival.
With an extremely impressive 10k PR of 31:20, a time which she ran on the roads, Tuwei looks like the perfect fit for an aerobic-centric distance squad that features true standout stars such as Hilda Olemomoi and Doris Cherop.
It's true, road race times are not necessarily fair to compare against track times. Of course, Doris Cherop certainly proved to us this past fall that's it's best not to dismiss times that were run on the roads. After all, it's not like Tuwei's 10k PR was a fluke. She has also run under 32 minutes (on the roads) four separate times!
That kind of consistency is massive, especially at the NCAA level and more specifically, on the championship stage. If Tuwei's reliability can be translated to the national stage, then we could be looking at someone capable of snagging countless All-American honors, and maybe even a 10k national title, by the time her collegiate career concludes.
Not only that, but the Alabama women already have a very strong core in Olemomoi and Cherop who both hold extensive amounts of eligibility. Those two women were arguably the best duo in the NCAA last fall and will now be able to develop and grow next to Tuwei for years to come.
And if Tuwei is as good as we think she is, then that trio should make the Crimson Tide women a major problem to lineup against for the next few cross country seasons.
The Texas A&M men signed a long distance talent in Victor Kibiego, but they also made sure to balance that signing with someone with who was more middle distance-based.
Enter Gilbert Rono.
The Kenyan half-mile talent owns personal bests of 1:48 (800) and 3:42 (1500), per the Aggies' Instagram page (both of which were apparently run at altitude). The Stride Report was unable to verify Rono's listed 800-meter PR, although his World Athletics profile does show a 3:42 mark for the metric mile.
As far as roster identities go, Rono is an ideal fit for Texas A&M. The men from College Station boast an extensive and accomplished history of developing middle distance stars, including, but not limited to, Donavan Brazier, Devin Dixon and Brandon Miller -- and the women have arguably been even better.
Rono will now get to work with former UTEP coach, Paul Ereng, who is also the current NCAA record holder for the indoor 800 meters (dating back to 1989). After making a move to replace Coach Milton Mallard who previously oversaw the half-mile group at Texas A&M, Ereng may be able to craft Rono into a true 800-meter star much like he did with Michael Saruni and Emmanuel Korir.
With the SEC set to only get even stronger in 2024 with the future additions of Texas and Oklahoma, having a long-term middle distance standout will likely be necessary to counter the overwhelming middle distance success that the Longhorns will bring to the table.
But the key facet that we need to consider is Rono's ability to be a competitive 1500-meter runner. If this Kenyan standout is able to build a base, translate that fitness to the indoor oval and improve upon his mile time, then how good could Texas A&M be in the DMR?
Next to Sam Whitmarsh and Eric Casarez (whose eligibility ends after this year), the Aggies could put together a sneaky-good DMR come February. They did, after all, put themselves in the national qualifying conversation in that event last winter.
Speaking of exciting 1500-meter prospects from overseas, the Texas A&M women have signed Debora Cherono, a Kenyan distance talent who owns a strong PR of 4:17 for the metric mile distance (although TSR has not yet been able to confirm that). It is unclear to TSR what eligibility Cherono will have and when she will be venturing to College Station.
Details aside, Cherono will be an excellent addition for Texas A&M. Her 1500-meter PR, with some further development, could put her on the national stage over the next few years. And for a program whose entire focus is winning SEC and national titles, her point scoring potential at the conference and national levels is exciting to think about.
But as I mentioned earlier, Cherono will still need to refine her talent to be a top-tier name in the NCAA, at least for the metric mile. However, her 6k PR (which was run on the grass, per Texas A&M athletics) is a time of 19:54, signaling that she can also be just as impactful on the grass than she is on the track, if not more so.
The Texas A&M women just advanced to the NCAA XC Championships this past fall, their first time doing so (as a team) in 23 years. Moving forward, the good news is that nearly everyone from that national meet lineup is set to return in 2024. The bad news, however, is that Madison Brown, a key scorer for this team throughout last fall, is out of eligibility.
Of course, with someone like Debora Cherono set to enter the program, the scoring gap that Brown is set to leave behind is suddenly not that big of a deal. In fact, with everyone else returning and Cherono holding low-stick potential, the Aggies should be measurably better next year than they were this past fall.
Brian Kweyei could be the biggest and most impressive signing of anyone who we have mentioned in this article. That's because the future Clemson runner (whose introduction timeline to the NCAA and eligibility is still unclear to TSR), will join the Tigers with a jaw-dropping personal best of 1:45 for 800 meters!
In an effort to ensure accuracy, The Stride Report cross-referenced Keweyi's bib number shown in the below Instagram graphic and found that the bib number matched with the name "Brian Kiptum Kweyei" at the African U20 Championships who had the same result listed on his World Athletics profile.
Barring any visa challenges, Keweyei's future introduction to the NCAA is monumental. At just 19 years old, the newest Clemson signee has dominated during his time in Africa. At the 800-meter distance, Kweyei has run under 1:50 a total of 13 times and has run under 1:48 a total of eight times, per World Athletics.
The Clemson men and women are known as an upper-echelon power in the middle distance events. Between Tarees Rhoden, Aman Thornton, John Lewis and Kameron Jones, the Tigers have had tons of recent success over 800 meters. And with both Rhoden and Thornton nearing the end of their eligibility, the next era of middle distance stars at Clemson seems to be alive and well with the introduction of Keweyi and 2:20 (1k) man, Blaik Slavinski.
With a 1:45 personal best, Kweyei needs to be viewed as an eventual national title threat. If not now, then maybe in the next year or two. But what's arguably just as impressive is his ability to consistently post competitive times. That's especially important when you realize that he'll need to go through six total rounds (over 800 meters) during the spring months (conference, regional and national).
With 800-meter star Yusuf Bizimana (Texas) nearing the end of his eligibility after this year, current half-mile standouts such as Handal Roban (Penn State) and Oussama El Bouchayby (Alabama) will seemingly have some company in the chase for NCAA gold throughout the rest of their collegiate careers.
The Clemson women have signed Kenya's Silvia Jelelgo, per Instagram. However, with no known credentials or any results that we could find, we are unable to properly analyze the incoming Tiger talent.
Last week, the Washington men signed Ben MacMillan, a Scottish distance standout who should be on your radar going into the fall of 2024. The incoming Husky holds highly promising personal bests of 3:57 (mile) and 13:51 (5k).
The 22-year old is exactly what the Washington men probably want. Coach Andy Powell has created a niche when it comes to developing a large handful of the most elite milers in the nation who can also move up in distance on the grass. Naturally, MacMillan fits that mold given that his primary event is the mile, but he still holds the ability to post a competitive time over 5000 meters.
MacMillan will likely be entering this Washington program at an ideal time. With top stars like Luke Houser and Joe Waskom nearing the end of their eligibility, this Scottish distance ace will still be able to grow and develop next to last year's NCAA 1500-meter champion, Nathan Green. It should also be noted that MacMillan's eligibility for next year is still unknown to TSR.
It will likely take time in order for MacMillan to be a productive scorer on the grass. While his mile and 1500-meter prowess should allow him to be instantly competitive upon entering the NCAA scene, his still-growing aerobic base and limited cross country experience suggests that his impact on the grass may be delayed until 2025 (and/or beyond).
Even so, for someone who is just beginning to tap into his full fitness and realize his full potential, MacMillan could be an awfully dangerous name under the tutelage of Andy Powell, a coach who can seemingly do no wrong in America's most revered racing distance.