South Plains wins 4th Half-Marathon National Title

TOPEKA, Kan. – South Plains (Texas) raced to its fourth NJCAA Men's Half Marathon Championship Saturday morning at a foggy Lake Shawnee in Topeka, Kan. The national title is the first for the Texans since 2009 and ties the program with Iowa Central for the most of any NJCAA member since the sport was launched in 2003.
 
Anitbahs Kibiwott of South Plains and Sylvester Barus of Iowa Western thrilled fans in attendance at the finish line. The two harriers pushed one another to the very last step of the 13.1 mile race. Kibiwott was awarded first place (1:09:02.1), defeating Barus (1:09:03.1) by the thinest of margins - a hundredth of a second.


After Kibiwott locked up top medalist honors, South Plains' Colton Holis (1:11:55.0), Jose Martinez (1:12:13.5) and Hassan Abdi (1:12:53.9) were the seventh, eighth and ninth runners to finish, which resulted in a team score of 16 for the Texans.
 
George Yator's third place finish (1:09.11.4) helped pace El Paso (Texas) to second in the team standings with 24 points. Allen County (Kan.) and Gillette (Wyo.) followed in a tie for fourth with 25 points.