Elkana Kipruto and Valentine Jemutai Set School Records at Chile Pepper Invitational

Saturday, September 28

Fayetteville, AR

5:30 PM

Stephen F. Austin

Chile Pepper Invitational

Elkana Kipruto and Valentine Jemutai Set School Records at Chile Pepper Invitational

9/28/2024 5:12:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

By: Jackson Pickard, Graduate Assistant for Strategic Communications

Fayetteville, Ark.- Elkana Kipruto and Valentine Jemutai set two new school records at the Chile Pepper Invitational today in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Freshman Elkana Kipruto competed in the men's McDonnell Memorial 8k and set a new 8k school record. The Kenya native ran a time of 23:19 to finish second in the meet and crushed the previous record held by Charles Mathenge of 23:45 by 26 seconds

"Elly was dominant and was only beaten by a University of Arkansas All-American," said head coach Rob Hansen.

Freshman Valentine Jemutai competed in the women's Harter's Habanero 5k and set a new 5k school record. The Kenya native ran a time of 16:42 to finish ninth in the meet and top the previous record held by Ana Rodriguez of 16:45 by three seconds.

"Valentine ran really well," said head coach Rob Hansen. "She put herself in great position early and stayed really tough throughout the entire race. She crushed the school record, and she has plenty of room to grow."

The men's team finished the meet 6th out of 25 teams. The sixth-place team finish was the best in 10+ years at the event. Riley Elliott finished in 23rd with a time of 24:38. Zephirin Darhan finished in 40th with a time of 24:57. Andrew Mullen finished in 63rd with a time of 25:18. Ryan Binskin finished in 71st with a time of 25:25. Devon Judelson finished in 99th with a time of 25:48. Robert Fulle finished in 109th with a time of 25:57. Pablo Lesarri finished in 118th with a time of 26:07. Kevin Curry finished in 173rd with a time of 27:07. Brendan Woodside rounded out the field for the 'Jacks in 191st with a time of 27:28.

Head coach Rob Hansen commented on the men's team performance saying, "The guys did a great job of getting out and establishing themselves early in the meet. It was pretty windy while they were competing, but I urged them to start aggressively, and they did that well." "We're still learning more and more how to execute a race plan, and this was a nice step in the right direction."

Coach Rob Hansen also talked about the group's 8k debut saying, "For nearly half of our group this was an 8k debut, so I feel like Chile Pepper was a valuable experience."

The women's team finished the meet 14th out of 27 teams. Landry Perkin finished in 101st with a time of 18:31. Kennedy Swain finished in 108th with a time of 18:35. Trude Lamb finished in 114th with a time of 18:39. Elina Bailey finished in 150th with a time of 19:27. Graycee Wilson finished in 160th with a time of 19:38. Alexandria Navarro rounded out the field for the Ladyjacks finishing in 230th with a time of 22:10. All of the top six finishers for the years earned 5k personal bests of 30 seconds or more.

Head coach Rob Hansen also commented on the women's performance saying, "This was the biggest race of all these girls' career, and the ladies executed in impressive fashion. I was proud that they weren't afraid of the moment. I was also proud of how they stuck together communicated and competed with each other."