COLUMBIA, Mo. – Sophomore
Elizabeth Khatevi of the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's cross country team concludes her incredible season at the NCAA Championships on Saturday morning, hitting the Gans Creek Cross Country Course on the campus of the University of Missouri looking to further cement her place in Islanders program history.
Khatevi earned her spot at Nationals by winning the NCAA South Central Regional Championship last week, finishing the women's 6k race in Fayetteville, Arkansas with a time of 19:33.6 after turning on the jets over the final 1,500 meters to cross the line nine seconds faster than anyone else. This was the Kenyan's sixth win in as many races in 2025, a stretch that included her second Southland Conference individual championship back on October 31 and a victory at the Gans Creek Classic on September 26 on the same course that she will compete at on Saturday.
With her most recent win, Khatevi became the seventh Islander to ever qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships and the third on the women's side, joining teammate
Dominic Kiptum last season, Dennis Kipngeno in 2021, Allyson Girard in 2018, Patrick Kimeli in 2010 and 2011, Anne Ronoh in 2008 and 2009 and Shadrack Songok in 2006 and 2007. The best-ever finish for a member of the program at the biggest race of the season belongs to Songok, who placed seventh overall in 2007, and the highest placing woman was Ronoh in 125
th back in 2008.
Khatevi enters competition as one of the top competitors in the entire field, with her performance to date earning her buzz on a national level. Prior to Saturday's race, she ranks No. 14 in the USTFCCCA's Cross Country Rankings Index (XCRI), No. 18 in The Stride Report's Top 50 Individual Rankings and No. 19 in FloTrack's Division I College XC Rankings.
"It's great to have the Islanders represented here at the National Championships for a second straight year," head coach
Bryan Jackson said. "Elizabeth has had a fantastic season, and she has earned the right to go into this race confident and ready. You never really know how a race is going to play out, but I know she has some of the best racing instincts in the field and the tools to be successful in a variety of different types of races."
Khatevi will hit the track at 9:20 a.m. CT for the women's 6k championship race. The meet can be watched live on ESPNU, and the live results will be available on PrimeTime Timing.
Meet 7 // A&M-Corpus Christi at NCAA Cross Country Championships
Date: Saturday, November 22
Time: 9:20 a.m. CT
Location: Gans Creek Cross Country Course // Columbia, Missouri
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