Amon Kemboi’s debut victory earns SEC Runner of the Week

Birmingham, Ala. – With a victory in his initial race as a Razorback, Amon Kemboi earned SEC Runner of the Week honors as announced by the conference office on Tuesday.

Posting a time of 23:25.5 over 8,000m, Kemboi won the Blazer Classic by a narrow margin of three tenths of a second over Mississippi’s Mario Garcia Romo and five tenths of a second ahead of the Rebel’s Cole Bullock with Arkansas teammate Emmanuel Cheboson just seventh tenths of a second behind in fourth place.

Arkansas totaled 29 points for the team title in defeating Mississippi (50) for a second time this season.

“Amon’s a huge boost to the team, obviously,” said Arkansas men’s head coach Chris Bucknam. “We’re excited to have him competing. He joined us in January and was a little bit dinged up and injured. This was his first race since the NCAA Cross Country Championships last November.

“It just shows you the type of athlete that he is. After not racing for close to a year and feeling that race pain a little bit, that will be good for him. We get that first race out of the way and look for another improvement when we run at the SEC Championships.”

Kemboi transferred to Arkansas from Campbell University, where he was a three-time All-American in cross country and placed among the top 10 at the NCAA Championships the past two seasons. Kemboi has run an 8k best of 23:09.8 in cross country, set in 2019 on the Louisville course.

“He’s a huge addition to our program, does everything we ask him to do and is a great competitor,” noted Bucknam. “He’s really elevated our team across the board.”

The next competition for Arkansas will be at the SEC Championships, held on Friday, October 30, in Baton Rouge, La.

SEC Weekly Honors | Oct. 20, 2020

MEN

Runner of the Week: Amon Kemboi, Arkansas

Freshman of the Week: Jonah Mitchell, Kentucky

WOMEN

Runner of the Week: Katie Thronson, Tennessee

Freshman of the Week: Vasileia Spyrou, Florida