Men’s Cross Country Concludes Season at NCAA Championships
KENOSHA, WI – The East Central University men's cross country team wrapped up its season on Saturday at the 2025 NCAA Division II National Championships in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Tigers earned their third straight appearance on the national stage after securing an automatic berth at the Central Region Meet two weeks ago. Against a deep and competitive field, ECU finished 28th overall to close out the season.
The Tigers have shown all season that they can compete with high-level competition, but the group wasn't able to find its footing early in the race and spent much of the day trying to recover in a fast-moving pack. Wingate came away with the national title, followed by Adams State and Colorado School of Mines.
Peter Kipkemboi led ECU with a 64th-place finish in 31:08.0, the team's lone top-100 result.
Paul Korir crossed next in 121st (31:56.7), with
Aspel Kiprob in 163rd (32:20.4).
Brian Mitei and
Donald Kipsang rounded out the scoring in 174th (32:26.4) and 235th (33:27.1).
Bhekizulu Khumalo (239th, 33:35.7) and
Kennedy Bett (248th, 34:15.1) completed the Tigers' lineup.
Although the performance fell short of the team's goals, reaching nationals for the third consecutive year highlights the program's steady progress and the strong foundation being built moving forward.
