Rising to the top

Abraham Chirchir of the UTRGV Men’s Cross-Country Team has only been with the program for one semester, but he has accomplished what seems impossible to many, but possible to him.

On Aug. 31, Chirchir won his first 6K collegiate cross-country race at the Texas A&M University Aggie Opener in the Dale Watts Cross-Country Course with a time of 18:34.9. His time placed him fifth in the fastest time in program history.

His performance at the Aggie Opener earned him WAC Cross-Country Athlete of the Week on Sept. 4.

Three weeks later, Chirchir picked up a second-place finish at the Texas A&M University Invitational in College Station, running the second-fastest 8K in program history.

Chirchir’s top finishes propelled him to being ranked ninth among the top freshmen in the nation, who were chosen by Flotrack, an online sports website.

On Sept. 25, he was selected as the WAC Cross-Country Athlete of the Week for the second time this season.

Chirchir was just getting his season started.

On Oct. 13, he ran at the Arturo Barrios Invitational hosted by Texas A&M University at the Dale Watts Cross-Country Course. He finished fifth in the 8K race with a time of 24:26.2.

The biggest meet of the season was the Western Athletic Conference Championships, which took place on Oct. 27 at the Jefferson Park Golf Course in Seattle, Wash. 

Chirchir posted an 8K finish of 24:21.4, earning him a third-place finish, which qualified him for the NCAA South Central Region meet.

Head Coach Darren Flowers said he and Chirchir knew the goals that had to be met at the regional meet.

“We knew he had to be at least in the top 10,” Flowers said. “He had a shot to get to the championship and he, you know, he stepped himself up there in that front group and ran south and was fortunate enough to get out.”

That same day, the WAC announced that Chirchir was the 2018 WAC Men’s Cross-Country Freshman of the Year.

Regionals took place Nov. 9 at the Watts course, where Chirchir finished second and qualified for the NCAA Championships.

Chirchir said that running at the regional meet was a new experience for him.

“It was actually a very good experience because at first I never believed that I could make it,” he said.    

Chirchir is UTRGV’s first runner to compete at the NCAA Championships since 2005.

Asked about Chirchir, Flowers said he is proud of the runner that Chirchir has become.

“I’m proud of Abraham and all the work he’s put in and, really, it’s … his determination and his work ethic and I think we have created an environment here at UTRGV that allows our student athletes to have success, and Abraham has taken full advantage of it,” he said. “Yeah, I’m really proud of that.”

Chirchir was the only runner from the WAC to qualify to the NCAA Championships, which took place Nov. 17 at the Zimmerman Championship Course in Madison, Wis.

At the NCAA Championships, Chirchir finished the 10K race 184th out of 252 runners. He also set a new personal record with a 31:24.65 race time, an improvement of 15.75 seconds from the NCAA South Central Regional meet.

After his performance in cross-country, Chirchir will prepare for the track and field season.