ATHLETICS LATEST NEWS

Jeruto, Bett to defend Maria Soti cross country- Lai

Former Africa 3,000m steeplechase champion Norah Jeruto and reigning Palio Della Quercia 5,000m champion Michael Bett are expected to defend their Maria Soti Ekiden cross country titles set for Saturday 29th February 2020 in Elgeyo Marakwet county.

According to the county athletics Kenya chairman Pius Lai, the two athletes will be at the starting line-up for the title chase in the race that enters its 4th year.

“We are expecting a tough competition come Sunday because of the good number of runners will be competing that includes the defending champions Jeruto and Bett,” said Lai.

Last year, Jeruto, the former commonwealth Youth 2,000m steeplechase champion stunned her opponents like former Africa Junior 1,500m silver medalist Gloria Kite and Esther Chesang to win the title timing 34:03.1 with Chesang coming  in second position timing 35:30.8 while Kite completed the podium in 36:36.0.

Bett who edged out reigning Africa junior cross country winner Nicholas Kimeli Kipkorir won the title in 29:50.6 ahead of Kimeli’s 29:51.1 and Boniface Kiptarus’ 29:53.4.

Africa cross country bound Agnes Jebet is also expected to defend her 6km junior women title. Jebet the two time East Africa junior champion will be representing Kamwosor Junior Training camp as part of her training for Africa cross country meeting in Lome, Togo.

Lai added that the championships will be the good training ground for top and upstarting runners especially those who cut into the Kenya team for this year’s Africa cross country.

“This is the best training ground for Africa team that is yet to hit the training camp. The race runs in the high altitude, the best place for training and churning out the best runners of all time,” said Lai.

Facebook Comments
Total Views: 297

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *