Excitement and anxiety greeted news that Kisii Sports Club could host next year’s National Cross Country Championships cum trials.
Yesterday, Athletics Kenya (AK) Nyanza South chairman Peter Angwenyi said Kisii Golf Course is a natural course for cross country and assured that the region will stage a very successful event.
“Kisii is a high altitude area with a natural ingredient for cross country. It has natural barriers and one of the best cross country courses in the country,” Angwenyi said.
Angwenyi said Kisii Governor James Ongwae has been invited for Saturday’s championships at Eldoret Sports Club, where he is expected to be handed the flag from his Uasin Gishu counterpart Jackson Mandago. “AK officials from our region, the Governor and his entourage will be in Eldoret to learn from this year’s hosts so that we can deliver a more successful event next year,” Angwenyi added.
He further noted that athletics fans will have an opportunity of watching top Kenyan athletes among them local girl and world 5,000m champion Hellen Obiri.
The event, Angwenyi added will help market Kisii. “This is the second most competitive cross country championship after the World Championships. We expect not less 1,000 athletes, managers, coaches and athletics officials,” he said.
Some of the elite cross country runners from the region include three-time world junior champion Oanda Keronchi, 4km world champion Jackline Maranga and Isabella Ochichi, the first woman to double in 8km and 4km in Dublin, where she won bronze in both events. Others are Thomas Osano, Tom Nyariki, Jackline Maranga, Boniface Merande, Jane Omoro, Pacifica Monda, Gladys Ondeyo and Phillip Mosima among others.
Yesterday, Ochichi said the event will motivate upcoming athletes to take up athletics. “They will be inspired by watching the top runners in the country. I’m very sure if we put in some effort, Kisii will be back to where it was,” she said on phone. Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) Kisii branch chairman Samuel Mweruti said: “It is a big event that should give us a wake-up call to go back and train our athletes. Upcoming athletes will get exposure from the event.”
Mogonga High School principal and coach Haron Onchong’a was also excited by the news and added that in future, Kisii should host an international event.
“It will give local athletes an opportunity to run at home and brush shoulders with people they only see on TV. It also means that trained local officials will be given an opportunity to officiate the event,” said Onchonga. In January, AK National Executive Committee member and the chairman of the Youth committee, Barnabas Korir praised the Kisii Golf Course. “This is a real cross country course and you don’t need to put barriers. The course has vintage view points for fans with the grass soft and the ground smooth which is perfect for national trials,” he said