Kipyego Captures NJCCAA Championship
Joe Gonzales, sports editor
South
Plains College freshman cross country runner, Sally Kipyego of Kenya, won
the National Championship at the NJCAA national cross country meet that was
recently held in Lawrence, Kan. Kipyego finished the 5K race with a time of
17:09 to finish in first place. Freshman Happy Mary Bacia of Uganda placed
third overall with a time of
18:17.
Kipyego and Bacia both earned All-American honors in the cross country meet.
”Sally
is a phenomenal athlete almost a once in a lifetime kind of girl to coach,”
said SPC cross country coach Chris Beene, “She is head and shoulders above
the rest as far as her talent level.” “Happy has been a very pleasant
surprise for me, she really has a lot of talent also, I was very, very
pleased with both of them at the meet and how they competed and how there
times were.
The
South Plains College cross country team finished overall in sixth place with
a total 241 points.
Also
placing for SPC were, Krystal Charles who finished in 61st place
with a time of 20:59; Britney Ramos finished in 87th place with a time
of 21:30; Danielle Newton came in 130th place with a time
of 22:45 and Christine Young finished in 179th place with a time of
26:40.
The
SPC men’s team had two runners compete in the men’s 8K race. Freshman Reuben
Twijukye finished in 59th place with a time of 27:38 and freshman
Chase Wade came in 137th with a time of 29:31.
