Kirami Yego’s record victory earns SEC Runner of the Week

FAYETTEVILLE – In winning the Chile Pepper Festival for a second consecutive year, Arkansas senior Kirami Yego collected the SEC Runner of the Week accolade after setting an 8k meet and course record at Agri Park.

Yego led the Razorbacks to a team victory with his winning time of 22:57.0 in the McDonnell Memorial 8k race. While Yego bettered the field by 22 seconds, four Arkansas teammates placed among the top 10 to produce a team score of 29 points off an 1-3-6-9-10 effort.

After winning the 2023 Chile Pepper Festival race by 22.5 seconds with a time of 23:14.1, Yego became the first to register a time under 23 minutes over the 8,000m course at Agri Park.

The previous best time of 23:03.6 in a Chile Pepper race was set by Vincent Kiprop of Missouri Southern in 2016, who later won the NCAA Division II cross country title over a 10k distance. The previous fastest time by a Razorback at Agri Park belonged to Josphat Boit, who clocked 23:09.9 on a different course layout during the 2004 SEC Championships.

Finishing behind Yego in the race were Elkana Kipruto of SFA, runner-up in 23:19.2, and Razorback teammate Timothy Chesondin, who placed third in 23:23.6.

Following the Chile Pepper Festival team victory, Arkansas remains No. 3 in the USTFCCCA national rankings and No. 1 in the South Central region. A third-place team finish for the Razorback women dropped them to No. 28 in the USTFCCCA national rankings and No. 3 in the South Central region.

The next competition for Arkansas men and women will be at the Pre-Nationals meet hosted by Wisconsin on Saturday, October 19.