Emmanuel Kiprono leads the 8km junior men's race during the national secondary schools championships/ANGWENYI GICHANANewly crowned World U20 3,000m champion Emmanuel Kiprono will lead Kenya’s charge on Monday at the inaugural Federation of East Africa Schools Sports Association (FEASSA) Cross Country Championships at the Gymkhana Club Golf Course in Morogoro, Tanzania.
Fresh from capturing his first international title at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, a week ago, the 17-year-old student from St Francis Kimuron Secondary in Elgeyo Marakwet enters the race as the favourite.
Kiprono, who also secured a silver medal at the World Cross Country Championships in Florida in January and won the national cross-country title at Kisumu Boys’, is scheduled to compete in the men’s 5,000m on Wednesday as well.
Despite his pedigree, Kiprono faces strong domestic competition from teammates Emmanuel Kipchirchir, Wesley Kiplangat, Brian Kandie, Bravin Kiptoo and Joel Sang.
Meanwhile, national champion Veneza Masai leads the Kenyan women’s contingent in the event.
The Form Three student at Kongit Secondary in Mt Elgon, Bungoma County, will contend for the inaugural title alongside compatriots Naomi Chepkwemoi, Celestine Mantaine, Faith Jeptum, Claire Cheruto and Millicent Chepkonga.
Coaches Simon Mwaniki and Jason Meli expressed confidence in Kenya’s chances of sweeping both categories:
“This will give our athletes a chance to showcase their talents in cross-country,” Mwaniki said. “We are targeting to sweep the podium in both the men’s and girls’ categories because we have had good preparation. We are certain that we shall dominate the two events.”
“It will be a tough competition between Kenyans. Kiprono is favourite, but he will face a run for his money from compatriots like Kipchichir and Kandie,” Mwaniki added.
Mwaniki also advocated for further expanding the discipline roster at future editions.
“We also want other events like decathlon, hammer, heptathlon and race walking introduced at FEASSA Games. We have talented athletes in the events, but their competition ends at the national level," he said.
The main track and field events begin Tuesday at Jamhuri Stadium in Morogoro, where Kenya aims to replicate their dominance from last year’s edition at Eregi Teachers’ Training College with Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda the main challengers.
