Kirwa Places 81st at NCAA XC Championship

Racing on a snow-covered course, Liberty senior Azaria Kirwa wrapped up his collegiate cross country career with an 81^st-place finish in the men's 10K, Saturday at the 2018 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course.

Top 5 Men's Teams (31 Total Teams):
1) Northern Arizona – 83
2) BYU - 116
3) Portland - 160
4) Colorado - 178
5) Stanford - 201

Men's 10K Individual Results (252 Total Finishers):
1) Morgan McDonald, Wisconsin – 29:08.3
2) Grant Fisher, Stanford – 29:08.8
3) Edwin Kurgat, Iowa State – 29:09.0
4) Isai Rodriguez, Oklahoma State – 29:10.5
5) Aaron Templeton, Furman – 29:11.9
81) Azaria Kirwa, Liberty – 30:28.6

Race Reactions
• For the second straight year, Kirwa got off to a slow start at the national meet. He was in 194^th place at the 2K split before working his way into the top third of the field by the finish line.
• Kirwa recorded the second-best finish ever by an ASUN men's runner at this meet, trailing only a 42^nd-place showing by USC Upstate's Gilbert Kemboi in 2012.
• Kirwa gave Liberty a representative at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships for the 14^th time in the last 21 years.
• Kirwa closes his cross country career as an All-American (thanks to his 25^th-place finish in 2017), the 2018 ASUN Conference champion, a two-time All-Southeast Region competitor and a four-time all-conference performer (three Big South, one ASUN).

Up Next
With the 2018 cross country season complete, Kirwa and the Flames will now turn their attention to the 2019 indoor track & field campaign. The Hokie Invitational will serve as Liberty's season opener, Jan. 18-19 at the newly renovated Rector Field House in Blacksburg, Va.