OXFORD, Miss. Ole Miss cross country freshman Barnabas Kirui picked up several individual honors over the weekend as he prepares for the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. Kirui was named the SEC Male Athlete of the Year and the Male Freshman of the Year by the league’s coaches. He was also honored as the NCAA South Region Male Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Kirui, who became the first Ole Miss runner since Pablo Sierra in 1992 to win the SEC Cross Country Championship, will compete in the NCAA Cross Country Championships which take place on Monday, Nov. 20. Indiana State University will serve as host for the event which will be ran at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center with the men’s race beginning at 12:15 p.m.
His first-place finish at the SEC Championship earned him All-SEC honors. Kirui was also the first freshman in Ole Miss history to win the title. Kirui recorded three victories on the year, winning the Arkansas State Invitational, Auburn Invitational and SEC Championships. He also finished runner-up at the Alabama Relays. His lowest collegiate finish of the season was an eighth place finish at the Chile Pepper Invitational. Kirui was named SEC Male Runner of the Week for his victory at the Auburn Invitational. During the NCAA South Region, Kirui turned in a dominating performance to win with a time of 30:43.1, besting defending champion Tonny Okello, of South Alabama, by 16 seconds.
