Dec. 7, 2006

NEW YORK - Sally Kipyego, a Texas Tech University sophomore, has been chosen the nation's top collegiate female cross-country athlete. The honor was based on the results of national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards program, now in its 31st year.

Kipyego's victory will earn her the 2007 Honda Award, given annually to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports, along with automatic nomination for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. She was voted over three other nominees: Jenny Barringer, a sophomore at the University of Colorado, Lindsay Donaldson, a junior at Yale University, and Arianna Lambie, a junior at Stanford University. The candidates were selected by their finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championship.

Currently a Human Sciences major, Kipyego says she plans to apply to nursing school this year, and also looks forward to continuing with her running, perhaps becoming a professional someday like her brothers. "I'm very honored to win the Honda Award," she notes, "I was so surprised when I found out. I've been running since I was fifteen years old and this is one of the nicest honors I've ever received. Right now I am looking forward more than ever to concentrating on both my studies and my running career."

Leading the Texas Tech Red Raiders to Victory
Kipyego is a native of Kenya, and while only a sophomore, she's already on a fast track to break Texas Tech records and has already led her team, the Red Raiders, to their first-ever NCAA qualification this year. The 2006 NCAA Champion and All-American cross country runner has won all six of the races in which she competed this season by an average of 34.94 seconds, including the Big 12 Meet, Mountain Regionals and the Chile Pepper. This year she also became the first Texas Tech runner to champion the Big 12 meet when she took first in a time of 20:00.82, leading the Red Raiders to their highest school finish with second place. She was named the Big 12 Women's Newcomer of the Year as well as the USTFCCCA Female Athlete of the Year. At the 2006 Murray Keatinge Invitational, she led her team to a first-place finish, and in the 6k Chile Pepper Invitational, one of the toughest regular season meets, she took also took the title. Kipyego has six siblings, and her brothers Chris and Mike run professionally.

Honda Award winners in basketball, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, volleyball, and track & field will be announced in the coming months. The Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year will be determined by separate balloting involving all NCAA-member institutions and the winner will receive the Honda-Broderick Cup in New York in late June 2007.

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. sponsors the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program.

Release courtesy of Adam Weissman, Awards Contact, Dobbin/Bolgla Associates