Kimani Claims Championship in His First Race of the Season
10/21/2002 12:00:00 AM
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Having rested for the first part of the season and being contained to just practice, Alabama Cross Country All-American David Kimani was eager to get out against some real competition and it showed as he claimed the 2002 Chile Pepper Championship.
Kimani crossed the finish line over four seconds faster than his closest competitor, Alistair Cragg of Arkansas, with a time of 28:42.87.
“Kimani had a very solid season opener going up against some of the better runners in the country,” said Alabama coach Joe Walker. “(Alistair) Cragg offered an early challenge and Kimani responded and really controlled the race from 5k on.”
Alabama also got solid performances from Peter Kiprono and Kevin McDonough as they placed 10th (29:58.67) and 33rd (30:58.17) respectively.
“Kiprono ran very well for us, finishing in the top 10 and then we had a big performance out of Kevin McDonough who has continued to be our surprise of the early season,” said Walker.
Including Kimani, Kiprono and McDonough, Peter Etoot and Todd Fayant also placed in the Top 40 with times of 31:00.79 and 31:10.28 placing 35th and 39th respectively.
Overall, it was a very good day for the Tide as they were able to beat a ranked Oklahoma State squad as well as a very good UC Irvine team.
The Tide will take the next weekend off from competition and will return to action on November 4 when the team travels to Gainesville, FL for the 2002 SEC Championship.
