FRISCO, Texas – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Dennis Kipngeno and Abilene Christian’s Irene Rono are the Southland Conference Cross Country Student-Athletes of the Year, the league announced Thursday. The pair headlined the latest Cross Country Academic All-Conference rosters as first team selections. Southland Student-Athlete of the Year awards are presented by
GEICO.
Kipngeno concluded the cross country season with a third-place finish at the Southland Cross Country Championships, crossing the finish line with a time of 23:44.48 in the 8k race. He was awarded athlete of the week honors on Feb. 4 after pushing the Islanders to a first-place team finish at the UIW XC Invitational, where he captured the individual title with a 23:50.10 clip. Kipngeno holds a 3.58 grade-point average (GPA) as a pre-nursing major and currently competes for the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi track team.
Rono’s latest superlative comes after winning the Southland Women’s Cross Country Championship with a time of 20:36.52 in the 6k event. Throughout her sophomore season, Rono captured first team all-conference honors, Athlete of the Year accolades and made an appearance at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Stillwater, Okla. In addition to her conference title, she also earned individual championships at the ACU Naimadu Classic (Oct. 17) and the UIW XC Invitational (Jan. 29). The sophomore has earned a 3.52 GPA as a nursing major and was named the Abilene Christian February Scholar Athlete of the Month.
There were three male student-athletes earning automatic Academic All-Conference distinctions. Leading the way was Southeastern Louisiana with three selections, followed by Central Arkansas and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, who each registered a pair of honorees. Lamar, McNeese and Sam Houston rounded out the men’s ballot with one student-athlete apiece.
Central Arkansas and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi topped the rosters on the women’s side with two honorees each. Abilene Christian, New Orleans, Nicholls, Southeastern Louisiana, Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston each added one selection. All five members of the women’s first team earned automatic status after claiming all-conference honors.
Southland Conference All-Academic Teams are voted upon by a head coach, sports information director and academic/compliance staff member from each school. Student-Athletes of the Year are voted upon by an awards committee which consists of one administrator from each member school. Voting for one’s own athletes is not permitted.
To be eligible for all-academic distinction, an athlete must hold a minimum 3.00 cumulative grade point average through the semester prior to the sport’s championship, completed at least one full academic year at the nominating school prior to the current season, and participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s competitions during the most recently completed season.
Student-Athlete of the Year nominees must hold at least a 3.20 GPA and have completed at least two years of athletic competition at the nominating institution.
First Team All-Conference athletes (top five finishers at the Southland Cross Country Championships) who meet all-academic nomination criteria and are nominated for the academic award are automatically named First Team All-Academic selections.