FRISCO, Texas - Southeastern Louisiana University sophomore Henry Rop was named the Souhtland Conference Cross Country Athlete of the Week after placing second and leading the Lions to a fourth place finish at the Azalea City Classic on Saturday the league office announced on Tuesday. Rop, who transferred to Southeastern from Union University, wins the award in his first cross country meet with the Lions."That's a tremendous honor for Henry," head coach Sean Brady said. "For him to win an honor like that in his first cross country meet here speaks to the kind of athlete he is. He's missed a lot of training time due to the Hurricane Gustav evacuation as well as some injury and illness issues. So for him to come out like that after not having an opportunity to be as physically prepared as he would like shows how good a job he's done to mentally prepare himself. Once Henry gets to his full potential, he could definitely be a force in this conference."
The Kapsabet, Kenya native led the men’s squad to a fourth-place finish at South Alabama's Azalea City Classic in Mobile on Saturday.
Rop finished just one second behind the day’s individual champion, Micah Tirop of South Alabama. Rop’s time of 15:01 on the 5K course was good enough to secure second place as the Lions’ best finisher.
In addition to Rop's honor, classmate Dorcus Kapkiai earned Honorable Mention honors on the women's cross country ballot this week.
Kapkiai had a strong showing at the Azalea City Classic, also finishing second. Kapkiai finished the 5K course in 18:59, just two seconds behind Tinette Burger of McNeese State, the day's champion and SLC Athlete of the Week.