Dec. 17, 2008

FRISCO, Texas - Lamar University cross country standout Samuel Kosgei has been named the Capital One/Southland Conference Men's Cross Country Student-Athlete of the Year the league office announced Wednesday.

Kosgei, a native of Kapchorwa, Uganda, posted a 3.20 grade-point average while majoring in health. The senior earned All-America honors with a 37th-place finish at the NCAA Championship Nov. 24 in Terre Haute, Ind. He covered the 10,000-meter course in a time of 30:09.4 to become the third All-American in school history. Kosgei won the conference championship Nov. 3 and was named the Southland Conference men's cross country athlete of the year after running the 8K course in a time of 24:13.

The Southland Conference awards committee, which consists of one administrator from each of the 12 member schools, voted for the student-athletes of the year.

The student-athlete of the year award is presented to the one student-athlete who achieves excellence in both academics and athletics. All nominees shall have earned at least a 3.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale, and demonstrated athletics achievement for at least two years at the nominating institution.

Included in Capital One's support of the Southland Conference's Academic Awards Program is the F.L. McDonald Postgraduate Scholarship, the All-Academic Teams, the Student-Athlete of the Year, the Scholar-Athlete Award and the Commissioner's Honor Roll.

Cross country does not select an All-Academic team until after the conclusion of the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons.