UA Men Sweep Team and Individual Titles, UA Women’s Duo Finish Top Three at Crimson Classic

Friday, October 17

Tuscaloosa, Ala. / Harry Pritchett Running Park

Alabama

Crimson Classic

UA Men Sweep Team and Individual Titles, UA Women’s Duo Finish Top Three at Crimson Classic

10/17/2025 12:42:00 PM | Track & Field, Cross Country

Final Results (Web)Photo Gallery

Across both races, the Crimson Tide placed a total of seven runners in the top 10, individually, and four in the top three

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 8 Alabama men's cross country team highlighted the morning of racing by defending its team and individual titles at the Crimson Classic. Dennis Kipruto broke the course record (23:14.3) en route to the first-place finish, just one-tenth of a second in front of UA teammate Dismus Lokira.

On the women's side, Crimson Tide duo Cynthia Jemutai and Caren Kiplagat led the way up top with second-and-third place finishes, respectively. The No. 13 Alabama women's team ultimately finished third overall.

Seven total UA runners, across both the men's 8k and women's 6k races, recorded top-10 individual times, as Carson Burian (23:47. 3 | sixth) and Nelson Pariken (23:57.6 | eighth) followed Kipruto and Lokira, while Lilly Walters (20:08.5) rounded out the group with a ninth-place finish of her own.

UA Men 8k Rundown

Spearheaded by the 1-2 finish from Kipruto and Lokira (23:14.4 | second), the Crimson Tide placed four of its scoring-runners in the top eight with the fifth coming in at 15^th
Burian, Pariken and Ezekiel Pitireng (24:24.9 | 15^th) rounded out the Tide's pack at the top
Alabama ran away from the field, accumulating only 29 points to defend its Crimson Classic team title, as North Florida took second with 120 points

UA Women 6k Rundown

Following Jemutai and Kiplagat's second-and-third place finishes was Walters, Leah Kleekamp (21:12.9 | 43^rd) and Kaylie Crews (21:28.9 | 55^th) who all clocked a scoring-time for the Crimson Tide
Alabama finished third (101 points), behind team winner South Carolina (30 points) and second-place finisher Tulane (85 points)

Head Coach Dan Waters Said

"First, I want to acknowledge all the energy and effort that goes into hosting such a great event as this one. There's so many people that are involved in the execution, from grounds to event management, media relations, athletic training staff – it takes a whole community to put on a first-class event. To come out here and have a nice run today, see a lot of administration, fans, friends and family – I'm really proud of that.

"On the men's side, to have two of our runners run faster than the initial course record speaks directly to the preparation and execution from both Dennis and Dismus. To have those kind of individual performances and win the team title handily makes for a great day. On the women's side, we had really good performances from Caren, Cynthia and Lilly; I was proud of the way they all ran their race. Two weeks until SECs, though, so we'll just prepare ourselves and get ourselves ready mentally, emotionally and spiritually to go have a good competition and do our very best."

Up Next

Alabama will take a week off before traveling to Knoxville, Tenn., for the SEC Championships on Oct. 31
Last season, the UA women captured the program's second SEC title in three years behind the individual championship-clinching performance from Doris Lemngole. The UA men, meanwhile, secured their third consecutive top-two team finish.