Tulane’s Caroline Jeptanui Finished 12th at NCAA XC Champs While Suspended For An Anti-Doping Violation

One of the top freshmen in the NCAA earned All-American honors at the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships while provisionally suspended for multiple anti-doping rules violations. Caroline Jeptanui, a freshman at Tulane University from Kenya, finished 12th at the NCAA championships on November 23 in Madison, Wis., when she shouldn’t have even been competing in the meet. Earlier today, the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) confirmed to LetsRun.com that Jeptanui has been provisionally suspended since September 28 stemming from her actions at the Kapsabet Half Marathon on March 31, 2024.

According to a letter sent from ADAK to Jeptanui, a copy of which was obtained by LetsRun.com, Jeptanui was alleged to have “adamantly evaded, refused, and failed” to submit to a drug test at the Kapsabet Half Marathon and “further attempted to hide [her] identity in an effort to tamper with the sample collection exercise.” Jeptanui was charged with two anti-doping rules violations and provisionally suspended beginning September 28.

Jeptanui (right) was the second-best freshman finisher in the 2024 NCAA XC field (Ben Jones photo)

ADAK’s Stanley Mwakio told LetsRun.com that Jeptanui’s matter is currently before the sports dispute tribunal pending judgement.

Jeptanui first competed for Tulane at the Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invite on October 4 and quickly established herself as one of the top runners in the country during the 2024 NCAA cross country season. In all, she raced five times last fall, including a 3rd-place finish at the 2024 Wisconsin Pre-Nationals, and a win at the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Championships.

Jeptanui has competed only once during the 2025 indoor season, running 9:38.45 to win the 3,000 meters at the LSU Twilight meet on February 21. As of Friday morning, she was still entered in the mile, 3000, and 5000 at the American Athletic Conference Championships, which will be held on Friday and Saturday in Birmingham, Ala.

Jeptanui was not (and still is not) listed on the Athletics Integrity Unit’s list of suspended athletes, nor is she listed on ADAK’s list of provisionally suspended athletes. Though Jeptanui’s suspension stems from her actions at the Kapsabet Half in March 31, the ADAK letter informing Jeptanui of her pending provisional suspension was dated September 9, 2024.

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Tulane head coach Adrian Myers did not respond to multiple emails from LetsRun.com and it remains unclear when he became aware of Jeptanui’s suspension. LetsRun.com did speak to a Tulane assistant coach, who said he was unaware of Jeptanui’s suspension until we told him about it on Wednesday. LetsRun.com reached out to Tulane and Jeptanui for comment, and a Tulane spokesperson provided the following statement to LetsRun.com:

“We are committed to creating an environment that fosters teamwork, scholarship, sportsmanship, leadership, loyalty, and integrity. We are aware of an upcoming article regarding one of our student-athletes and will work with the proper organizations and governing bodies to ensure all requirements are fulfilled.”

Jeptanui came to Tulane via the recruiting service Scholarbook Premier, which charges a fee to connect international athletes with NCAA schools. Scholarbook Premier told LetsRun.com it was unaware of Jeptanui’s provisional suspension until this week.

Talk about this situation on our world-famous messageboard / fan forum: MB: Breaking: A runner finished 12th at NCAA xc while in the middle of a doping suspension