Freshman Duo Set School Records at Kennemer Classic

Friday, October 16

Florence, Ala.

8K | 8:00 AM

Jax State

Kennemer Classic

Results

10/16/2026 1:34:00 PM | Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Results

FLORENCE, Ala. – Jax State had 13 combined runners place in the top ten across the men's and women's races at the Kennemer Classic on Friday morning, highlighted by the freshman pairing of Shadrack Kipkurgat and Mercy Sergon who both broke previous school records in their respective races.

"It was a great meet for both teams," head coach Jeremy Provence said. "This was a big confidence boost heading into conference. The main goal was to be aggressive and control the beginning of the race. From there, we wanted to focus on competing for position, which will be critical at the CUSA Championships. I thought we did a great job executing the race plan."

Head coach Jeremy Provence's squad dominated the entirety of the contest, with both teams earning team titles in Florence against 11 other schools. Additionally, 22 Gamecocks in all produced a personal best performance in the final regular season meet.

Leading all runners was Kipkurgat's record-breaking time of 23:16.0 in the 8k to place No. 1 overall and break the school record he previously set this season by 16 seconds. The result marks Kipkurgat's third meet win of the season as well.

Joining him in the top ten was Linus Chepkochei (4^th, 23:47.2), Mark Roper (5^th, 23:53.8), Augusto Caceres (6^th, 24:59.5), Miguel Del Rosario (8^th, 25:06.2), Beltran Flores (9^th, 25:11.8) and Pai Wynyard (10^th, 25:17.2). In a field of 118 runners in all, the Jax State men's squad had nine runners place in the top 20.

The Gamecock women had a spectacular performance as well, boasting six runners in the top ten. Controlling the top spot was Sergon's 16:32.5 time in the 5k to set a new school record by beating her previous top mark by just over 35 seconds. Sergon came home with her third meet win of the season, also.

"Big congratulations to Shadrack and Mercy for having the confidence to take the lead early and for setting school records," Provence said.

Jax State had two more podium finishers in Viola Jepleting (2^nd, 17:10.0) and Charity Mabuza (3^rd, 17:37.5), each setting new personal bests in the performance. Rounding out the top ten for the Gamecocks was Faith Kurgoi (4^th, 17:48.7), Selina Planken (6^th, 18:02.5) and Mercy Jebet (8^th, 18:17.4).

After a dominant performance on Friday, Jax State now eyes the postseason with good momentum. The Conference USA Championship is set for Oct. 31 in Huntsville, Ala.