Lewis Making Most Of Senior Season

By Jay D’Abramo
Assistant Media Relations Director

Senior leadership is one of those intangible attributes necessary to achieve success in any form of collegiate athletics.  In the case of the Ole Miss cross country team, senior Kyle Lewis entered his final season in red and blue as the unquestioned leader of the men’s team.

A native of Bay St. Louis, Miss., Lewis recalls joining the Ole Miss cross country team five years ago and how proud he was to represent his home state.

“Growing up in south Mississippi, I always thought it would be such a great honor to run for Ole Miss,” Lewis said.  “Mississippi does not have quite the depth that many other states have, but I believe the talent level is there.”

Fast forward five years later and Lewis is not only running for his home state, but has emerged into the Rebels top runner on the men’s team.  His journey to the top has not always been easy, however, as Lewis and the Rebels have experienced injuries and some tough results the past few years.

“It has been a long four years for me to get into the shape that I am in right now,” Lewis said.  “It was such a humbling experience to come into the conference as a freshman and run with such talented runners.  Coach Blackwell has patiently worked with me over the years and we are finally getting the results we need to be competitive in this league.”

The Rebels entered the 2008 season with high hopes as Lewis and Ole Miss junior Barnabas Kirui, the 2006 SEC cross country champion, were primed to form one of the top duos in the conference.  However, a back injury to Kirui suffered prior to the season has kept him out of the Rebel lineup thus far this season. 

“Losing such a great runner and teammate like Barnabas to injury is always tough,” Lewis said.  “He has been such a positive influence to not only me, but the entire team.  I have tried to take his work ethic and apply it to my training.”

Lewis wasted little time in taking the team under his shoulders as he opened the season with an individual championship at the Southern Miss Invitational.  In fact, his first place finish with a time of 27:02.38 helped the men’s team to a team title to go along with his individual victory.

“It is always great to be able to win a meet like we did in Hattiesburg,” Lewis said.  “I think it gave us great confidence for the rest of the season.”

In his most recent meet, Lewis raced to a second place finish at the SEC-Pre Meet to help Ole Miss capture a third place finish.  In terrible running conditions, Lewis bested his previous top time of the seasons by over two minutes as he posted a time of 25:00.00. 

“The race at Mississippi State was an absolute mud fest and I think we did especially well not to let that shake our focus of what we had to do,” Lewis said.  “Our biggest tests of the season are ahead of us, but I think Coach Blackwell has prepared us well to succeed in those races.”

Lewis and the Rebels will take part in two more races before heading back to Starkville to compete for an SEC Championship.  Following a 2007 seasons in which the men’s team was unable to place because of injuries and a bit of bad luck, Lewis believe this year’s team has the ability make their mark at this year’s race.

“The SEC is a tough conference to compete in because there are so many talented runners,” Lewis said.  “I think if we can stay healthy and keep improving like we have been, we can sneak up on some teams and surprise them.”

No matter what the outcome may be next month at the SEC Championships, Lewis is well on his way to making his senior year one that Rebel fans will remember for quite some time.    

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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