Chesang Finishes 48th At Nationals

Aug. 23, 2004

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – KU freshman Benson Chesang finished 48th out of 254 runners Monday in the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, hosted by Northern Iowa University. The men’s individual title was won by Dathan Ritzenhein of the University of Colorado with a time of 29:14.1, while the team title was claimed by Stanford University. Stanford also claimed the 2003 women’s title, with North Carolina’s Shalane Flanagan finishing in 19:30.4 to win the 6k women’s race.

Chesang placed in the top 50 with a personal-best 10k time of 30:22.7 and was the second freshman runner to cross the line. The Ravine, Kenya native, who has led the Kansas men throughout the 2003 season, paced the Jayhawks at the Midwest Regional Championships, finishing the 10k race in a time of 30:41, placing second overall and leading KU to its highest regional finish (fourth) since 1994.

Chesang was also named to the All-Big 12 cross country team and received Big 12 Men’s Runner of the Week honors after his second-place performance at the OSU Cowboy Jamboree.

“I am happy with how I did today” Chesang said. “I’m looking forward to getting back here in the future. It was a great experience for me.”

“I thought he did a great job today,” KU head coach Stanley Redwine said. “He ran an awesome race and we are really proud of him.” (11/24/03)