Reigning Africa Youth Championships 5,000m silver medalist Jacob Krop and Boulogne Half marathon champion Nancy Jelagat will be the key highlight this weekend at the North Rift regional Athletics Kenya Championships that will be staged in Lodwar, Turkana County’s Ekales Sports Ground.
Krop, fresh from finishing 4th at the Valencia Ibercaja 10km where world 10,000m bronze medalist Rhonex Kipruto broke the six-week 10km world record, Krop the for three student at Chewoyet secondary school will represent West Pokot County in 10km senior men.
The vast region comprises of five counties- Elgeyo Marakwet, Trans Nzoia, West Pokot, Turkana and Samburu.
However, he will be chasing the title against his training and school mate Shadrack Kipngetich as well as Rodgers Kwemoi.
North Rift public relations officer Boniface Tiren said Krop, who witnessed the world record being broken will be the key highlight as they seek to select a formidable team to represent the region at the national trials as Athletics Kenya will be selecting a team Kenya for Africa cross country championships to be staged on Lome, Togo.
“He has been consistent in his steps and we hope he will make the cut into the national team. Look at his running skills at his age, running with great runners to break the world record? This is a great athlete that we need in our team,” said Tiren.
Apart from Krop chasing the national cross country title, he will be using the event as part of his preparations for the world under 20 that will be hosted at Moi Sports Centre, Kasarani in July.
“He is the probable for the world under 20 and we want him to run his best,” added Tiren.
Jelagat, who broke the Boulogne Half marathon course record in 68:24 will lead Elgeyo Marakwet County.
As she tackles the course in the hot region, Jelagat will be chasing the title alongside Brilliant Jepkorir also from the same county.
“Jelagat and Jepkorir have been anchoring our region and we have to give them good running time. They have had various races across the country and we have to ensure that they get good training programmes to secure the national cake,” added Tiren.
Source: The Star Newspaper