Kemboi Picks up Capital One Academic All-District Honors
6/3/2013 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katie Parker, kparker@uscupstate.edu
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Senior Gilbert Kemboi of the USC Upstate men's track & field and cross country teams was named to the Capital One Academic All-District Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
This marks the second-straight year Kemboi has landed on the Capital One Academic All-District Team. He wrapped up his career at Upstate with a 3.587 GPA, while majoring in sociology. Kemboi has been a standout in the Atlantic Sun Conference during his four years not only athletically, but also academically, claiming numerous Scholar Athlete of the Year awards and Academic All-Conference honors.
"Gilbert is such a class act and as you can see the awards keep rolling in as he finishes his stellar career here at Upstate," said Head Coach Natalie Smith. "Having such a young man as a part of our program in its early stages has been such an honor. Gilbert will be forever remembered because of the legacy he leaves here and for that we are grateful to have been a part of it. Gilbert has always taken his running seriously, however what makes him all the more special is that he takes that same tenacity and dedication into the classroom."
Back in the fall, Kemboi led the Spartans to back-to-back A-Sun Cross Country Championship titles, while earning his third individual crown. During the indoor track season, he claimed his third A-Sun title and second-straight in the 3,000-meter, while earning his fourth conference championship in the 5,000-meter to become just the second A-Sun indoor track athlete to win an event four times.
The gold medals continued to pour in at the Atlantic Sun Outdoor Championships, where Kemboi defended his A-Sun titles in the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter races. The Eldoret, Kenya native went on to qualify for his second consecutive NCAA East Preliminary Championships, competing in the 10K. He finished 17th in the NCAA prelims with a time of 30:15.18.
Kemboi was joined on the District 4 NCAA Division I First Team by 12 other athletes. He was the only athlete on the District 4 team not from either the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) or Southeastern Conference (SEC) as he was joined by honorees from Florida State, Alabama, Miami, Georgia Tech, Georgia, Clemson, Auburn, South Carolina and Florida.
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