Timothy Chesondin named National Athlete of the Week

FAYETTEVILLE – Winning the 37th Chile Pepper Festival with a meet and course record earned Razorback Timothy Chesondin the accolade of USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week.

Chesondin won the 8,000m race at Agri Park in a time of 22:53.6 to better the previous record of 22:57.0 set in 2024 by Razorback Kirami Yego. Chesondin led Arkansas to a team title as four Razorbacks finished among the top five in the McDonnell Memorial 8k race.

In improving his previous time of 23:23.6 on the Agri Park course from placing third in the 2024 Chile Pepper Festival, Chesondin finished 16 seconds ahead of teammate Brian Masai, the runner-up in 23:10.2, to claim the 2025 individual title.

Chesondin becomes the first Razorback to receive the men’s national cross country honor since Stanley Kebenei in 2013.

Previous national athlete of the week honors from the indoor track and field season includes the Arkansas men’s 4 x 400m relay in 2023 along with Ayden Owens-Delerme in 2022. During the outdoor season Jaydon Hibbert was honored in 2023.