ABILENE - As a championship student-athlete who is mastering one of the most demanding fields of study, sophomore nursing major
Irene Rono Thursday was an inspired choice for Southland Conference Cross Country Student-Athlete of the Year.
Southland Student-Athlete of the Year awards are presented by GEICO.
Rono is the third Wildcat to receive this distinction, joining previous winners Diana García Muñoz (2014) and Alexandria Hackett (2015, 2017).
A native of Eldama Ravine, Kenya with a cumulative grade-point average above 3.50, Rono currently is enrolled in four lectures in addition to labs for both anatomy and physiology, and microbiology. Despite this heavy courseload, Rono has developed into a top-tier race for the Wildcats, winning both the Southland Conference cross country championship and its indoor 3,000-meter title within a span of a week in late February.
Rono then represented the league at the NCAA DI Cross Country Championships in March, clocking a 6K time of 21:33.3. She made her 2021 outdoor debut last week at the Texas Relays and placed third in the 10,000-meter run behind a time of 34:16.39 that netted her Southland Conference Track Athlete of the Week honors.
Rono began her 2020-21 cross country / indoor season with four consecutive wins. She won the Naimadu Classic 6K at ACU in 21:38.6 and several months later was the Texas Tech Corky Classic 3K champion (9:55.30). Rono then ended her January slate with a first place 6K time of 20:33.1 at the UIW Winter XC Invitational, and claimed the Southland XC crown in Hammond, La. with a time of 20:36.6.
Rono is the Wildcats' third individual XC champion since Abilene Christian rejoined the Southland in 2013, joining two-time gold medalist Alexandria Hackett who won her titles in 2015 (Huntsville, Texas) and 2017 (Abilene, Texas).
Rono's time around the Southeastern Louisiana campus was 10 seconds ahead of runner-up and 2019 champion Arina Kleshchukova of New Orleans (20:46.93), while third-place honors went to Valentina Campos of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (20:48.50).
Kleshchukova and Campus joined Rono on the Southland's XC All-Academic First Team along with SLU's Sophie Daigle and Stephen F. Austin's Kelsey Ramirez.
Second team honors went to Central Arkansas' Tamara Reeves and Kennedy Timmerman, Nicholl's Elsa Rijpstra, Sam Houston's Cryslan Tucker and Corpus Christi's Quin Johnson.
Dennis Kipngeno of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was voted men's XC Student-Athlete of the Year.
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.
