Tulane Track and Field's Record-Breaking Freshman Fuels Nationals Momentum
Silas Kiptanui and Bernard Cheruiyot are headed to Eugene, Ore. to make their debut at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships which begins on June 11.
Kiptanui will be competing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase while Cheruiyot will be running in the 10,000 meters.
The Green Wave student-athletes just got back from the NCAA Division1 East Round in Jacksonville, Fla., where both had fourth place finishes in their respective events according to the College Track and Field Rankings and Meet Results.
Kiptanui, a freshman, was the headliner as he shattered a 23-year-old Tulane record in just his third time competing in the event. His time of 8:27.28 is the seventh-fastest time recorded in the country this year.
The Green Wave will have another freshman headed up there as well. Cheruiyot is also a member Tulane’s cross country team and he shined for them this fall. During the 2024 American Athletic Conference cross country championships he won the 8k with a time of 23:43.5.
His time of 29:02.16 in the 10,000 in Jacksonville proved good enough for a fourth place finish, but it wasn’t his fastest of the season. His personal best in this event is 28:31.83.
Eight athletes from the Wave's track and field team qualified for the regionals in Florida last weekend. Even though only two are making the trip up to Oregon it is an impressive feat that they had that many there. The men may be running for individual titles, but they wouldn't be there without the support of the entire team.
The entire Tulane Green Wave athletic department feel great about the future in track and field, as these two runners should lead the way for years to come.
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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.