.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
NCAA Championships
Kirui Takes Fourth At NCAA Cross Country Championships
11/24/2009 | Track and Field
It is the highest ever finish for an Ole Miss runner at the NCAA Championships, besting Pablo Sierra's 45th-place finish in 1992, and earned Kirui his first cross country All-America honors. The 2009 SEC Cross Country champion, finished in a pack right behind Chelanga that included David McNeill, of Northern Arizona, and Chris Derrick, of Stanford, and was the highest SEC finisher.
"This is quite an accomplishment for Barnabas," said Ole Miss head coach Joe Walker. "This was a brutal course and a fourth-place finish here says a lot about how good of a runner he is. Chelanga went out really hard at the start and didn't let up. Barnabas stayed in the group behind him, but they just couldn't quite catch him."This really showed Barnabas' character to fight through all the injuries he has had and perform like he did today. Distance running is very tough even when your body is healthy, but to fight back like he has shows his heart."
The Kaplong, Kenya native and SEC Male Cross Country Athlete of the year opened the season by winning the Brooks Twilight Classic and setting a new course record with a time of 19:00.77 in the four mile run.
The two-time SEC Cross Country champion went on to turn in a third place finish at the Greater Louisville Classic in the 8k with a time of 23:52.42. Kirui followed that by winning the Ole Miss/Samford Dual Meet by posting a new 5k course record time of 14:59.29. In his final meet before the championships, Kirui finished ninth at the NCAA Pre-Nationals with a time of 23:55.50 in the 8k and had the top time of any SEC runner at the meet.
