[2] She had a successful cross county season at the end of the year, taking 6 km junior race victories in three of the Athletics Kenya meetings.

[7] Her place on the Kenyan world cross country team looked uncertain in 2009 as head coach Julius Kirwa dismissed her chances, saying she had run too many races that season.

[9] At the 2009 African Junior Athletics Championships, Cherono eased to the 3000 m title by some 13 seconds but found herself beaten again by Genzebe Dibaba in 5000 m race, finishing with the silver medal.

[12] She won a junior cross country race on home turf in Kericho in late 2009,[13] but failed to reach the top three at the 2010 Kenyan Trials.

[15] She made her first outing on the IAAF Diamond League circuit in May, running a personal best of 14:47.13 for seventh in the 5000 metres at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix.

Taking to the senior circuit, she ran at the Rieti IAAF Grand Prix in August and took second in the 3000 m behind Sylvia Kibet, setting a new lifetime best of 8:42.09.

[19] She turned her focus to senior cross country and won at the AK meet in Kericho in November, while her sister Caroline Chepkoech went on to win the junior race.

In January 2011 she ran at the Discovery Kenya Cross Country meet in Eldoret, but misjudged her run and slipped into fourth place near the end.

[22] Although she missed out on a place for the world team, she headed to the newly created 2011 African Cross Country Championships and won the gold in a medal sweep alongside Viola Kibiwot and Doris Changeywo.