Alcorn Runner Named National Athlete of the Week

NEW ORLEANS – A day removed from winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Women's Cross Country individual title, Alcorn sophomore runner Stellah Kiptui was named National Athlete of the Week on Tuesday by the USTFCCCA from its home offices in New Orleans, Louisiana.
 
Kiptui, a sophomore from Kabarnet, Kenya, left little doubt as to whether she could turn in a SWAC medal-winning performance, doing so in a time of 18:03.4 in the women's 5K event on Monday morning. For this, she was once again named SWAC Performer of the Year.
 
Her winning performance was by more than a minute in total.
 
"She's deserved all the accolades she's receiving," commented Jimmy Joseph, Alcorn Director of Track & Field and Cross Country. "She's a great student-athlete and a hard worker. We look forward to seeing her attain many more accomplishments while at Alcorn."
 
No one could keep up with Kiptui at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida on Monday, as she led 7.4 seconds at 2k, 20.2 seconds at 2.8k, 40.7 seconds at 4k and then increased that insurmountable edge more than 20 seconds over the final 1k.
 
Kiptui earned three top-3 finishes at the SWAC Indoor Championships last year (including a victory in the mile) and then swept the distance slate clean at the SWAC Outdoor Championships in May 2022.
 
This is the first time in program history that an athlete from Alcorn has been named Male-Female Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the cross country season. Kiptui is the first female athlete from the SWAC to earn national honors since Paige Rankine of Alabama State in 2015.
 
National Athlete of the Week is an award selected and presented by the USTFCCCA Communications Staff at the beginning of each week to 14 collegiate cross country athletes, when applicable (male and female for each of the three NCAA divisions, the NAIA and the NJCAA).
 
Nominations are open to the public. Coaches and sports information directors are encouraged to nominate their student-athletes; as are student-athletes, their families and friends, and fans of their programs. Nominated athletes are noticed before those athletes found through searching TFRRS.
 
The award seeks to highlight not only the very best times, marks and scores on a week-to-week basis, but also performances that were significant on the national landscape and/or the latest in a series of strong outings. Quality of competition, suspenseful finishes and other factors will also play a role in the decision.
 
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