GRAMBLING, LA – Grambling State University Men’s Cross Country Team won the 2015 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Championship on Oct. 24. With 61 points, it is the team’s first SWAC title since 2011.
“It was a really tough competition,” said Head Cross Country Coach Bertram Lovell. “It was much closer than I thought, but the guys kept saying all semester that we were going to win this. They worked very hard all semester. I am really proud of those guys.”
Grambling was led by freshman Hassan Chepkwony, who finished first with a time of 25:56.81. Chepkwony was also honored as the 2015 Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year and was named to the 2015 All-SWAC Men’s Cross Country First Team. Chepkwony was also named the SWAC Cross Country Runner of the Week six times this season.
“My freshman student from Kenya, Hassan Chepkwony, was the most valuable player. He has been athlete of the week in the conference for the past five weeks straight. We are looking forward to having more good things out of him,” Lovell said.
Along with Chepkwony, sophomore Montieco Harris finished fourth to also earn first-team All-SWAC honors. Student athletes were not the only ones to take home honors as Coach Lovell was named SWAC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year, who stated that all the honor should go to the student athletes for their hard work this season.
The Cross Country Team members were often out at 5 a.m. running 10 and 12-mile stretches and practicing so late into the evenings that they would miss closing time for McCall Dining Hall.
“I just want to thank everyone who stood behind us and made sure we had a successful season. I thank everyone in Athletics who believed in us and helped make us successful, and I am especially grateful to McCall staff for making sure the student athletes got something to eat even when they were late after practice,” Lovell said.
Lovell also thanked his “right-hand,” Assistant Track Coach Ashley Curry, and volunteer Track Coach Lester Herbert.
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