Bett beats all. Kimeli Brian Bett makes history at the University of North Alabama as the first-ever athlete to win a conference championship at the Division I level for any sport.
Having said in mid-October he was “ready for a bigger challenge,” Bett showed off in Jacksonville, Fla., on Nov. 1, for the annual race. The freshman crossed the finish line at 23:29.6, beating the prior year’s champion Eastern Kentucky Taha Er Raouy by almost six seconds.
Wearing Kenya’s flag bracelet, the athlete surpassed power programs for the top finish, having four EKU, one Lipscomb, and one North Florida among the second to seventh finishers.
The Kenyan is the current holder of the school’s men’s cross-country records of 8K, which he broke three times, and 4K. He is the only ever Lion with four ASUN Freshman of the Week awards and has three Runner of the Week ones.
Bett outdid power schools’ runners for Runner of the Year and Freshman of the Year and guaranteed a spot on the All-Freshman team and First Team All-ASUN. Teammate Vincent Chepkwony finished 12th with a time of 24:08.3 for Second-Team All-ASUN.
Men’s finished fifth overall of 12 schools, and the women’s finished seventh.
