Mercy Chelangat

MERCY’S STORY
Mercy was born and raised in Kericho, Kenya and came to the United States in 2018 to attend the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, Texas. After spending her freshman year competing for the UTRGV cross country and track teams, she transferred to the University of Alabama in 2019 where she spent the rest of her very successful collegiate career. She has a four-year old daughter named Audrey.

PRO STATS
Mercy kicked off her pro career with a 1:11:37 at the BAA Half Marathon in November of 2023. Three weeks late she was third at the Cross Champs in Austin, helping HOKA NAZ Elite win the team title. In January of 2024 she finished 10th in 1:08:58 at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon, setting a team record. In March she crushed her 10,000 meter personal best, running 31:15.39 at The Ten. The rest of the spring included an eighth-place finish at the Boston 5k and a sixth-place finish at the Bloomsday 12k. Her fall started with a second-place effort at the Philadelphia Distance Run.

NCAA STATS
Mercy was SEC cross country champion in the fall of 2020 before winning the NCAA Championships—held in the spring of 2021. A little over a year later, she added a title on the track as well when she won the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. All told, Chelangat was a ten-time NCAA first team All-American, an eight-time SEC champion, and leaves Alabama as the school record holder at 5,000 meters (15:17.28) and 10,000 meters (31:55.80).