Cross Country Earns Top Ten Finish At SEC Championships

Friday, October 31

Knoxville, Tenn.

9 a.m.

Mississippi State

SEC Cross Country Championships

Cross Country Earns Top Ten Finish At SEC Championships

October 31, 2025 | Cross Country

By: Jhordyn Stallworth, Assistant Director/Communications

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Mississippi State cross country finished ninth at the SEC Championships, hosted by Tennessee, this morning.

"We are proud of the team and how they finished in today's race," said head coach Chris Woods. "This is the highest team finish in nearly a decade for the program, and we are trending in the right direction going into the South Region Championships."

The Bulldogs put together the highest team finish in eight years in today's race. This is the first time since 2017 that State has earned a top 10 finish in the race, improving by two spots from its finish at last year's event. The Dawgs earned 243 points in the race, shaving off 30 points from last year's point total.

Nelly Jemeli was the first to cross the line in 20:37.98 to finish 19th overall. She earned third-team All-SEC honors for her overall finish. She earned the first All-SEC selection for State in the last decade.

Naomi Jepleting was the next to cross the line, finishing in 29th place at 20:50.84. Milicent Kemboi, Gabrielle Boulay and Louise Stonham round out the scorers for State. All scorers racing for MSU finished in the top 75 overall.

Ramat Jimoh and Kaitlyn Burge served as the team's displacers in the race.

The Bulldogs will return to action at the South Region Championships in two weeks, taking place in Huntsville, Alabama.

For more information on the Mississippi State cross country and track and field program, visit HailState.com and follow "HailStateTF" on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.