Two Arkansas Razorbacks athletes have received weekly honors from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) following their performances at the 37th Chile Pepper Festival. Timothy Chesondin was named SEC men’s Runner of the Week, and James Sankei was recognized as SEC men’s Freshman of the Week.
Chesondin won the 8,000-meter race at Agri Park with a time of 22:53.6, surpassing the previous meet and course record of 22:57.0 set by Kirami Yego of Arkansas in 2024. Sankei recorded a time of 23:31.3, which was the fastest fourth-place time achieved at Agri Park.
In addition to Chesondin and Sankei’s performances, Razorback Brian Masai finished second with a time of 23:10.2, setting a new record for the fastest runner-up time on the course. The previous mark was 23:19.2, set by Elkana Kipruto of Stephen F. Austin in 2024.
Chesondin also received national runner of the week honors from USTFCCCA. He now holds two of the top ten times ever recorded on the Agri Park 8k course. His previous time of 23:23.6 from the 2024 Chile Pepper race stands as the fastest third-place finish and is ranked tenth overall for the course.
Sankei, a freshman from Kenya, made his debut for Arkansas during the McDonnell Memorial 8k last weekend. He was third among Arkansas runners, contributing to a team result that saw four Razorbacks place in the top five.
Ben Shearer was the fourth Arkansas finisher at Agri Park and produced a fifth-place time of 23:38.4, just behind his runner-up finish of 23:36.6 at the 2023 Chile Pepper race.
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