From the day it was founded in 2006, the American International College cross country and track and field program has had incredible national success. To date, the team has earned 120 All-American Honors and four national championships, beginning in 2012 with Dominic Smith’s win in the 400-meter dash and continuing with the 2016 distance medley relay team, Leakey Kipkosgei’s 2019 steeplechase title, and Ezra Mutai’s 2019 cross country championship. The program has also registered 234 individual Northeast-10 Conference Titles between cross country and track.

One of the program’s most impressive feats came during the 2015-16 academic year when the men swept the NE10’s cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field championships. Leading the way for the Yellow Jackets at the Cross Country Championship was junior John Chirchir, who won the individual title a time of 24:55.9, while freshman Leakey Kipkosgei was right behind him at 24:56.0. Sophomore Mitchell Byrne finished in sixth followed by sophomores Kemani Hume and Siem Mehretu in 16th and 23rd. The first place finish by Chirchir marked the seventh straight individual title by an AIC athlete, a streak which extended to 11 in 2019 by Mutai. Kipkosgei capped off the cross country season with a 15th place finish in the NCAA Cross Country Championships, earning All-America honors in the process.

At the NE10 Indoor Championship on February 19 and 20, AIC claimed the crown with an impressive 55.5 point win over Southern Connecticut State University. The Yellow Jackets swept the podium in the mile and 3,000 meter run with Kipkosgei, the Most Outstanding Track Performer, taking gold in both while Byrne earned a silver and a bronze. Senior Xavier McIntosh was named the Most Outstanding Field Performer with NCAA provisional marks in the long jump, and high jump where he took gold, as well as a fifth place finish in the triple jump. In total, the Yellow Jackets had 18 podium finishes. The distance medley relay team, composed of Hume, Kipkosgei, sophomore Chandler Cotton Jr. and freshman Chad Miller capped off the indoor season a few weeks later with an NCAA Championship in the distance medley relay with a time of 8:48.02.

On May 7, AIC dethroned reigning outdoor champion SCSU with a 14.5 point win over the Owls to complete the sweep. Senior Jeremy Antivo defended his 1,500 meter crown while also earning the gold in the 5,000 meter race. AIC swept the 100 meters with junior Daquan Holmes, freshman Isaac Sampson, and sophomore Jashane Brown on the podium. Kipkosgei took the steeplechase title while also taking silver in the 800 meters and third in the 1,500. Miller, the Most Outstanding Track Performer, and senior Pinnock took the top sports in the 400 hurdles. Rounding out the top finishes were golds in the 4x100, 4x400, and 4x800 relays. The team finished the year with three All-Americans and placed 19^th at the NCAA Championships.