Campbell's Amon Kemboi Named 2017-18 Men's Runner of the Year
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Campbell sophomore Amon Kemboi (Kapsabet, Kenya) has been voted the 2017-18 Big South Conference Men’s Runner of the Year, it was announced today by the Conference office. The award is voted on by the Big South head cross country/track & field coaches as part of their annual June meeting, and encompasses the entire cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field seasons.
Kemboi is the fourth consecutive Camel to win Runner of the Year honors, and earned First-Team All-America honors in each of the three running sports. He clocked in at 29:52.1 and finished 29th in his debut at the NCAA Cross Country Championship in November. Kemboi qualified for the national race with a second-place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional meet to earn All-Region honors, and was the Big South’s individual Cross Country Champion in leading Campbell to its third consecutive conference title. In addition, he won the 6K title at the Elon Opener in September, and finished third at the Pre-Nationals race in October. Kemboi collected his second First-Team All-America honor at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships with an eighth-place finish in the 5,000m. He ran a 14:17.42 and was 1.03 seconds from the top five. His time of 13:43.78 in the 5K at the Iowa State Classic in February secured his berth in the NCAA postseason.
Other indoor highlights include breaking the school record in the mile run with a 4:06.16 performance at the Big South Championship, as well as winning the Big South title in the 3,000m at 8:13.15. Kemboi capped his season with a fifth-place finish in the 5,000m run at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships earlier this month. He posted a time of 13:56.37, took over the lead from teammate Lawrence Kipkoech with five laps to go, and paced the pack until the final lap, when Stanford's Sean McGorty pulled ahead for the eventual win. Kemboi won the men's 5,000 meters at the East Preliminaries in Tampa, Fla., to qualify for nationals, and claimed the region title with a time of 13:54.89. During the outdoor campaign, Kemboi ran a school-record 5,000m time of 13:37.48 at the Mt. Sac Relays, which ranks third all-time in Big South history. He also set a conference standard in the 1,500m with a time of 3:43.49 at the VertKlasse Meet in April. Kemboi was a four-time Big South Athlete of the Week honoree in 2017-18.