All-American Korir finishes 23rd

EVANSVILLE, Indiana (November 21) – Sophomore Julius Korir capped off the greatest cross country season in Cameron University history today with a 23rd place finish at the NCAA Division II National Championship. Korir’s time of 32:06.1 was fast enough to earn All-American status, which goes to the top forty runners.

“I feel really good about today,” Korir said. “I’m excited to become an All-American in my first time at the National Championship, especially on such a difficult course. This was a great race.”

The nation’s top 182 runners competed in today’s race, with 24 teams vying for the team title.

“We are pumped! Our goal was for Julius to make the top 40 and he did that easily,” Head Coach Matt Aguero said. “He looked really good the entire way. Julius ran the course perfectly and exactly how we planned.”

The National Championship meet was run in Evansville, Indiana, on the campus of the University of Southern Indiana. The race was 10 kilometers in length and is regarded as one of the toughest courses in the nation.

“This was the toughest course I’ve ever seen,” Coach Aguero said. “There were five major hills, and I mean major. We expected it to be cold but the temperature was in the 60’s, so that was good. Julius went out nice and relaxed and continuously gained ground. He ran very smart.”

Korir agreed with Coach Aguero on the course’s high level of difficulty.

“The race was really hard and had a lot of hills,” Korir said. “There were so many hills. The second and third hills were the hardest, but they were all very steep.”

Korir had a time of 9:12 at the 3-kilometer mark, and a time of 22:16 at the 7-kilometer mark. He also averaged a pace of 5:11 per mile and 3:20 per kilometer.

Reuben Mwei of Adams State University won the individual title with a time of 30:27.8. He led ASU to the team championship as well.

Today’s race caps off a miraculous season by CU’s Julius Korir. In his first year with the Aggies, Korir set numerous school records, won two races, and was Cameron’s top finisher in all seven events this season.

“A season like this shows what kind of athlete and how hard of a worker Julius is,” Coach Aguero said. “He put in all the miles, but he also did the little things like going to bed early and eating healthy. He really surprised me; I didn’t expect this at the beginning of the season but by midseason I knew he could make All-American.”

Korir’s participation in the National Championship officially ends the 2009 season for the Aggie cross country team. The squad will now enter the offseason training portion of their schedule before competing in various track meets during the spring exhibition season.