Middle Tennessee State graduate Eliud Rutto is listed among the entries to run the 800m at the USATF Outdoor Championships on June 23-25 in Sacramento, CA. Rutto is a Kenyan-born athlete and appears to have earned U.S. citizenship through the U.S. Army program, according to his Facebook page. Rutto would be joining the likes of other top foreign-born athletes to earn U.S. citizenship through the U.S. Army program such as Paul Chelimo (3K/5K), Shadrack Kipchirchir (5K/10K), Leonard Korir (5K/10K), Hilary Bor (steeplechase), and Stanley Kebenei (steeplechase).

Rutto moved to Murfreesboro, TN, back in 2013 at the age of 18. While at Middle Tennessee State, Rutto he ran sub-1:46 three times with a personal best of 1:45.37. He also qualified for the NCAA championships in seven out of eight seasons. 

NCAA Championship Finishes:
2013 Outdoors (7th)
2014 Indoors (12th)
2014 Outdoors (5th)
2016 Indoors (2nd) - Runner-up to Clayton Murphy
2016 Outdoors (7th)
2017 Indoors (9th)
2017 Outdoors (24th)

Watch Rutto's 1:45.37 from 2014:



Watch Rutto's 2016 NCAA indoor runner-up finish: