AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn cross country senior Ryan Kinnane and freshmen Brenda Jepchirchir and Nickson Chebii secure bids to the NCAA Cross Country Championships for their performances at the NCAA South Regional.
The first four finishers from the non-automatic qualifying or at-large teams secure an automatic bid to the championships.
“Ryan, after what felt like every time, we went to one of these meets last fall and spring, with him being the first guy to miss out at the national meet finally breaks the curse,” Auburn cross country coach Aaron Kindt said. “I’m really happy that he gets to finish his career at Auburn at the national championship and I’m excited to get to watch him one more time.”
Kinnane completed his 10k race at the Apalachee Regional Park with a time of 30:07.80 to take ninth overall. He competed at the 2022 NCAA Championships where he capped off the season finishing 89th overall (30:09.50).
He was recently voted the 2024 SEC Men’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year as well as Second Team All-SEC.
Chebii will run in his first NCAA Championships after taking eighth. He is the first freshman to qualify for nationals on the men’s side since Chris Walsh in 2004.
The Kenya native ran a time of 29:55.80. He earned men’s second team and all-freshman honors for his performance at SECs.
“Nickson continues to break out and I’m really excited for him,” Kindt said. “He had a great day and was very comfortable and relaxed. I think he’s poised to take another step forward next week at nationals.”
The women will showcase Jepchirchir in Wisconsin. Making her NCAA South Regional debut, she put together a solid outing, crossing the line in 20:16.00. She is the first freshman to qualify for NCAAs on the women’s side since Brenda Kigen in 2017.
Recently she was named to the women’s second team and women’s all-freshman team.
The 2024 NCAA Cross Country National Championship will be held at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday, November 23rd.
To view the full list of teams and individual qualifiers, visit here.