TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Bethune-Cookman Cross Country returns to Tallahassee on the hunt for a SWAC title in the 2025 SWAC Cross Country Championship on Monday, October 27 at Apalachee Regional Park. 

The men's team races in search of its first SWAC title in program history, while the women will look to return to form from the 2022 title season. 



Monday, October 27, 2025
Opponent:  SWAC Cross Country Championships
Time: 11 a.m. EST (W) | 12 a.m. EST (M)
Location: Tallahassee, FL | Apalachee Regional Park
Watch: https://tv.swac.org/
Live Results: https://bcuathletics.com/stats



Once again, Andrew Kiplagat set a school record for Bethune-Cookman Cross Country as the Wildcats turned in personal-best times across the men's and women's side in the 18th Annual Sand Shark Invitational hosted by USC Beaufort in Hardeeville, South Carolina.
 
Andrew Kiplagat, a junior from Chebara, Kenya, turned in his third school-record setting time of the season with a mark of 23:49.9. That was good enough for second place finish. A new season-best time of 24:41.6 was set by senior Victor Kibet, with the Eldoret, Kenya product taking third on the day.
 
Majet Bethely had a top 15 performance with a time of 26:15.1, as he was 13th on the day. Sophomore Gerrard Griffin was 24th in the field of 100 participants, crossing in a time of 26:34.8. Dashon Gill, another sophomore for the Wildcats, crossed in a time of 27:11.0, while classmate Jalen Jackson had a performance of 27:26.8 overall.
 
It was Andre Sewel with a finishing time of 28:12.7, followed closely by Dashawn Buist who crossed in 28:37.7.
 
As a team, the Wildcats registered a second place finish with 68 points, while Southeastern (Fla.) was the winner with 61 points. Francis Marion's Rayce Shird was the individual winner in a time of 20:56.1 on the day in the 8K race.
 
The Bethune-Cookman women's team had a solid sixth place finish with 143 points.
 
Valencia Butler, a senior from Augusta, Georgia, recorded a new season and personal-best time of 19:17.4 in the 5K race.
 
Meanwhile, it was sophomore Riana Wilford turning in a finishing time of 20:06.0, followed directly by freshman Shelvany Goin (20:08.3).
 
Morgan Middleton performed a time of 20:48.7 to collect a top 50 time against the field of 100 female runners as well. Freshman Sade Franco, competing in her second race of the campaign, had a time of 21:28.6 to round out the runners for Head Coach Garon Jackson's side.
 
It was SAC Savannah's Talia Sullivan with the winning time of 17:25.3 on the women's side. Georgia Southern was the women's team winner with 21 points.



The 2025 championship race will be held at Apalachee Regional park, the same site that saw the Andrew Kiplagat finish second in a field of 317 runners, including multiple high major programs. It marked the second of three times this season that the sophomore broke the school record in the 8K. 

The B-CU men finished 21st out of 30 teams in the event. 2024 SWAC Champion Victor Kibet finished 33rd in the same event.

The last time the women raced in Tallahassee, they finished 33rd out of 36 teams, with Valencia Butler leading the individual finishes at 217th.

As for Apalachee Park, it includes one of the nation's few sites designed specifically for cross country running. This trail is a pristine, multi-surface course that hosts small and large running events. The facility features numerous course and distance options through the rolling hills, lowlands, and pine forests. The trail was designed to give runners the opportunity to run on several types of surfaces.

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