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Running Abroad (Women): West Virginia Adds Top-Tier Firepower While Auburn, Oklahoma, Louisville, Tulane & Arizona State Invest in Distance Stars
- Mike McKean
- Sep 17, 2024
- 6 min read
Written by Mike McKean, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin
NOTE: While this article does highlight a number of international additions made during the offseason, it does not mention or detail any overseas newcomers who were already reported on or analyzed on our site from earlier this year.
International recruiting within the NCAA has never been as prevalent or as aggressive as it has been today. That was plenty apparent if you read our men's article from Monday.
Of course, coaches for multiple women's teams have also been able to bring in a mass number of top-tier distance runners as of late, many of whom could alter the NCAA cross country landscape as we know it.
And yet, out of all of the international headlines that we have yet to officially discuss, one storyline immediately comes to mind. Let's first shift our attention to Morgantown, West Virginia where the Mountaineers have found upper-echelon scoring complements for their focal star, Ceili McCabe.
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This West Virginia squad was already considered to be a "Just Missed" group in our preseason team rankings thanks to the return of superstar low-stick, Ceili McCabe. But for as good as WVU's Canadian ace has been, this distance program needed more help in order for us to feel more comfortable about their chances to qualify for this year's national meet.
Thankfully, that's where Josephine Naukot and Tecla Lokrale come in.
Naukot hails from Eldoret, Kenya, and brings highly impressive personal bests of 32:28 (10k roads), 1:09 (half-marathon) and 9:02 (3k conversion). Her half-marathon personal best comes from just a few months ago, taking home gold at the 2024 Gutenberg Half Marathon in 1:09:26.
Those are tremendous times that, in theory, should make Naukot someone capable of being a top-50 name in our individual rankings later this fall. That would be huge considering that the Mountaineers were somewhat limited on depth this fall and didn't seem to have a true second low-stick behind McCabe until now.
But the biggest reason why we're so high on West Virginia this fall is because Tecla Lokrale brings a resume to Morgantown that isn't all that different than what Naukot has produced. The Kapenguria, Kenya native holds 32:32 (10k roads) and 1:12 (half-marathon) personal bests, credentials that also put her in the conversation to be a top-50 talent, nationally.
These two Kenyans will certainly prove to be valuable as they look to build one of the best scoring trios in the nation behind Ceili McCabe (TSR #8). With the addition of Richmond transfer Madison Trippett, this group should have enough scoring reinforcements to prop up what has suddenly become a very top-heavy lineup. Sure, they won't have much room for error, but this squad could find a way into our team rankings as the season progresses.
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Dynamic duos seem to be a theme for overseas additions this summer and there’s plenty fresh firepower in Tempe, Arizona this fall. When we mentioned the influx of Kenyans making their way to Arizona State in our men's article, we weren’t done listing names after highlighting Lemerian Lemashon and Dennis Rono.
That's because the Sun Devils added two more high-level talents to boot in Judy Chepkoech and Evaline Chepkoech. And of those two women, it's the former who could be a pivotal name this fall.
Judy Chepkoech boasts incredible personal bests of 15:21 (5k) and 9:51 (steeple). Not only that, but she also brings championship-racing experience as she qualified for the U20 World Championships. And suddenly, Arizona State seemingly has someone capable of being a top-30 All-American at the very least and possibly a contender to battle for the BIG 12 individual title if she's able to fully translate (and build upon) that 5k success this fall.
Her debut with the Sun Devils showed immediate promise as she secured gold at the George Kyte Classic in Northern Arizona with a 14:09 mark for two-and-a-half miles. We'll admit, it's a bit hard to properly gauge a simple rust-buster, but soundly defeating every woman who Northern Arizona fielded at least shows us that Chepkoech is fit and more than capable of being An All-American in 2024.
Meanwhile, Evaline Chepkoech brings a great amount of upside to Arizona State on the track as the middle distance specialist relocates to 'States with a noteworthy personal best of 2:04 (800). She too brings championship-racing experience to Tempe, qualifying for the U20 World and U20 African Championships.
The half-mile talent finished 13th overall at the George Kyte Classic. That's a fine result, but it seems fairly clear from that effort that she'll be at her best on the track.
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Let’s shift focus to the new and improved SEC as we highlight a new duo who touched down in Norman, Oklahoma earlier this summer. Leah Jeruto and Abby Jepchirchir all but add to the extended list of Kenyan standouts and they should continue to make the conference extremely top-heavy from a raw talent perspective.
Jeruto possesses a talent that could see her churning in All-American performances on both the grass and the oval. The Elgeyo-Marakwet, Kenya native joins the Sooners with an eyebrow-raising personal best of 9:32 (steeple).
But let's put that impressive PR aside. Jeruto also brings valuable high-level racing experience to the NCAA. She was the 2024 African Championship steeplechase bronze medalist and she also finished 5th at the 2024 Kenyan Olympic Trials.
Jepchirchir packs another punch for the new-look Sooners as she brings her speed-based talent to a group that’s poised for a massive upgrade. She has run an altitude converted time of 2:04 for 800 meters. The Eldoret, Kenya native will certainly provide an added piece of depth for a team looking to make some noise in their first year of the SEC.
While we’ve yet to see either of these women race in the crimson and cream this season, we thankfully have the Joe Piane Invitational circled on our calendars as a potential debut. We'll be looking at Jeruto in particular to see how she will handle what will likely be a sneaky-good field, although her steeple prowess suggests that she'll be a top finisher.
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We then come to Tulane, a rising distance program that didn’t let the men’s side have all the fun this summer. That's because the “Big Easy” got even bigger with the additions of Blezzin Kimutai and Caroline Jeptanui to their women’s squad.
The freshman duo from Iten, Kenya have already provided an instant impact for the Green Wave. The pair will look to deliver as a consistent 1-2 punch this fall.
Kimutai joins the squad with a converted personal best of 9:02 (3k) as Jeptanui holds impressive marks of 15:39 (5k) and a converted seal level best of 8:45 (3k). Those are tremendous marks that should not only make them national-caliber low-sticks on the grass (especially the latter), but should also allow Jeptanui to contend for All-American honors when once she reaches the oval.
In their debuts for the Green Wave at the Battle for New Orleans XC Opener, Jeptanui set an aggressive pace from the gun and showcased her immense value as an elite front-runner. She took home gold in 13:31 (4k) as Kimutai earned a solid 2nd place finish in 14:08 for the same distance.
Tulane is set to defend their conference title and look to improve upon their 4th place finish from last year’s South Central Regional XC Championships. They already had a strong squad, but with Jeptanui and Kumutai on board, the firepower of this team looks far greater than it was last year. That, in turn, could allow the Green Wave women to put themselves on the national stage in a region that is seemingly lacking national-caliber teams.
The women of Auburn may reside in the South region rather than the South Central region, but they too have another high-octane scorer entering their program this fall. We are, of course, talking about Brenda Jepchirchir’s arrival to the Alabama-based distance program.
The freshman from Iten, Kenya gives the Tigers a low-stick that they have very much needed since the departure of Joyce Kimeli a few years ago.
A world traveler in her own right, Jepchirchir is no stranger to adapting to new environments. She spent a year at Kamimura Gakuen High School in Japan where she earned outstanding personal bests of 8:57 (3k) and 15:45 (5k). Her resume building in Japan didn’t stop there as she was then a member of the 2023 High School Ekiden National Championship team and earned bronze at the Kitakyushu Women’s Invitational Ekiden.
However, her most impressive result to date came just a few months ago in Germany at the Gutenberg Half-Marathon where she ran a huge personal best of 1:09:45.
Jepchirchir’s adjustment to the collegiate cross country scene may not hold her back as much as others. Quite simply, she’s been in high-pressure fields before and has proven that she has enough pure talent to contend with nearly any other long distance star (save for Lemngole and Olemomoi) in her conference.
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Last but certainly not least is another long distance ace from Eldoret, Kenya.
Nancy Chepleting has joined the Louisville women this summer with an All-American level ceiling. Her personal best of 31:34 came on the roads this past spring at the Paderborner Osterlauf 10k, earning silver along the way.
With a half-marathon personal best of 1:09, the strength-based Chepleting is set to make waves for a distance program that is looking to been revived under the direction of Coach James Franklin. Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait long for her debut as she opened up her season at the JSU Southern Showcase, earning 5th place overall in 16:50 (5k).
After a disappointing 13th-place finish at last year’s ACC XC Championships, the Cardinals are primed to improve on that with the added firepower from Chepleting as well as the scoring support from a few newcomers.
