Auburn University‘s track and field freshman athlete, Brenda Jepchirchir from Kenya, has been designated as the Southeastern Conference’s (SEC) Women’s Freshman of the Week, as announced by the conference office on Tuesday.
Mississippi State‘s Adekalu Fakorede from Nigeria was also announced as the Men’s Freshman of the Week.
In her second indoor competition for the Tigers, Jepchirchir achieved a time of 9:08.37 in the women’s 3000m event at the Orange & Purple Invitational in Clemson, South Carolina. Jepchirchir’s performance established a new freshman record for the programme, surpassing Joyce Kimeli‘s 2019 record of 9:24.59.
Her time positioned her fourth on Auburn’s Indoor Top Performers List. She recorded the second-fastest time in the SEC and the 18th-fastest time nationally.
The Iten, Kenya native concluded the race in second place overall, outperforming 50 other competitors. Jepchirchir competed against athletes from No. 6 Alabama, Georgia Tech, Mississippi State, No. 24 Tennessee and host No.3 Clemson who participated in the meet.
During the cross country season, Jepchirchir was honoured with the SEC Women’s Runner of the Week and SEC Women’s Freshman of the Year awards.
Jepchirchir and the Tigers will resume competition this weekend, January 31 – February 1, at the Bob Pollock Invitational in Clemson, South Carolina.
SEC Track & Field Weekly Honours – January 28
- Men’s Runner of the Week: Abdullahi Hassan, Mississippi State
- Men’s Field Athlete of the Week: Sam Innes, Missouri
- Men’s Freshman of the Week: Adekalu (Nicholas) Fakorede, Mississippi State
- Women’s Runner of the Week: Jaiya Covington, Texas A&M
- Women’s Co-Field Athlete of the Week: Elena Kulichenko, Georgia
- Women’s Co-Field Athlete of the Week: Olivia Lueking, Oklahoma
- Women’s Freshman of the Week: Brenda Jepchirchir, Auburn