In its second of three regular-season meets, Florida cross country came out of the gates strong and posted solid performances. The Gators traveled to Terre Haute, Indiana, for Saturday's John McNichols Invitational. If all goes well for the Gators this season, both the men’s and women’s teams will return to Terre Haute in November to compete in the NCAA Championships.
Last season, the women made an appearance in the NCAA Championships, finishing fifth. However, the men's season ended at the NCAA South Regional Championship, where they finished seventh.
This year, both squads are churning out early success. In the Stam Simx XC Opener, both the men’s and women’s teams finished first, with sophomore Isobelle Jones winning the 5,000-meter race.
Saturday morning, the women’s team finished fifth behind stellar performances from junior Judy Chepkoech and sophomore Desma Chepkoech, who finished third and fifth, respectively. Jones finished 31st; freshman Maggie McCormick came in 45th place; freshman Keeghan Edwards finished 76th; freshman Jazlyn Forbes finished 111th; freshman Mary Nesmith finished 113th; and junior Ashley Fitzgerald finished 129th.
2025 SEC Men’s Country Athlete of the Year and Freshman of the Year Kelvin Cheruiyot helped propel the men’s team. The sophomore led UF to a second-place finish after winning the men’s 8,000-meter race. Junior Geofrey Ronoh finished ninth, junior Josh Ruiz finished 17th, senior Ian Sanchez came in 37th, junior Jonathan Leon finished 54th, and junior Riley Novack finished 131st.
The men finished with 119 points, second only to No. 9 Brigham Young, who had 71 points. The women finished with 156 points. No. 8 Northern Arizona, No. 20 Utah, No. 21 Washington State and No. 25 Toledo were the only teams to place above the Gators women.
The Gators will compete in their final regular-season meet, the Nuttycombe Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin, on Oct. 9. With the SEC Championships just over a month away, hosted in Columbia, South Carolina, on October 30, the Gators will look to build off of their early victories as their final non-championship meet approaches.
Contact Katie Mosley at kmosley@alligator.org. Follow her on X @kati3mosle7.
Katie Mosley is a freshman journalism sports & media major in her first semester at The Alligator. She currently serves as the Fall 2026 cross country reporter. In her free time, Katie enjoys watching her favorite sports teams such as the St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Blues, Kansas City Chiefs or Liverpool F.C. Katie also takes pleasure in hiking, kayaking and canoeing. One of her favorite traditions is going hiking in the Ozarks every summer.
