School Record Falls as Tulane Track Star Silas Kiptanui Advances to NCAA Finals
Silas Kiptanui has found his calling for the Green Wave's Track and Field Team: the 3000m steeplechase.
A little under two weeks ago Kiptanui was competing at the NCAA East Regional Championships where he obliterated a 23-year-old Tulane record in this event with a time of 8:27.28. This was only his third time ever competing in the event.
The Green Wave announced that yesterday during the NCAA Division1 Outdoor Track Championships he broke his own record with a time of 8:25.51. The young man is now headed to the finals to compete for a national title, as a freshman.
𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 🤩
— Tulane XC & TF (@GreenWaveXCTF) June 12, 2025
Silas Kiptanui advances to the NCAA Championship finals for the 3000m steeplechase after breaking his own school record - 8️⃣:2️⃣5️⃣.5️⃣1️⃣!#RollWave🌊 | #RunWave👟| #SetTheStandard📈 pic.twitter.com/qzVsCziwxp
His previous best time was recorded during the American Athletic Conference championship meet which was a full 14 seconds slower than what he ran during the NCAA East Regional Championships. Now he holds the top two times for the university, again, as a freshman.
The Track and Field Tulane record book shows that the 23-year-old record was originally held by Solomon Kandie with a time of 8:35.30. Kiptanui is just shy of a full 10 seconds faster than Kandie.
Kiptanui’s time was good enough for a fifth place finish in the semi-finals. According to the NCAA official results it was Josh Ruto from Iowa State who took home the win with a time of 8:22.94. 1.18 seconds separated second through fifth in their semi-finals.
Kiptanui wasn’t the only Green Wave competing. Freshman, Bernard Cheruiyot, ended up 18th in the 10,000m with a time of 29:24.8. Cheruiyot earned All-American honors for his efforts per the official social media for Tulane.
Cheruiyot had also won the 10,000m and 5,000m during the AAC Outdoor Championships according to the Waves. and this earned him AAC Freshman of the Year honors. Tulane's Track and Field team is in good hands as their two young studs are at the beginning of their collegiate career!
The Outdoor Championships are taking place in Eugene, Ore. Kiptanui will have a days rest and then will run in the finals Friday night!
For more Tulane news, visit Tulane Green Wave On SI.
Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.