Impressive debut victory earns Kirami Yego SEC accolade

BIRMINGHAM – An impressive victory by Arkansas distance runner Kirami Yego in his Razorback debut at the Chile Pepper Festival earned him the SEC Runner of the Week accolade, the conference office announced.

Yego, a junior transfer from South Alabama who is from Kapenguria, Kenya, produced the second fastest winning time over the 8,000m distance in Chile Pepper Festival history with a 23:14.1 clocking. Yego’s time also ranks third best all-time on the Agri Park course.

Winning the race by 22.5 seconds over teammate Ben Shearer, Yego led the Razorbacks to a team title as Arkansas totaled 18 points in the victory. Shearer also registered one of the fastest times on the course with his runner-up time of 23:36.6, improving upon his 23:49.0 from 2022.

In the 2016 Chile Pepper Festival, Vincent Kiprop of Missouri Southern produced the fastest 8k winning time of 23:03.6. Razorback Josphat Boit generated a time of 23:09.9 on a different course layout during the 2004 SEC Championships.

An All-American in cross country at the 2022 NCAA Championships, Yego placed 37th in the 10k race held at Oklahoma State. Yego won the 2022 Sun Belt cross country title in 22:55.9 over an 8,000m course.

During his time at South Alabama, Yego collected a total of 11 Sun Belt gold medals and earned Sun Belt Performer of the Year six times.