Matthew Kipkosgei will lead three other St Francis Kimuron High School students to this weekend’s Africa Under 18/20 national trials at the Nyayo Stadium on Friday and Saturday.
The Form Four student will be accompanied by fellow candidate Linus Kasikar and Form Three duo of Franklin Kimutai and Fanuel Koech.
The four will be following in the footsteps of various top Kimuron products including world 800m record holder David Rudisha, Commonwealth Games 5,000m bronze medallist Nicholas Kimeli and two-time Los Angeles marathon champion John Korir among others.
Fresh from clinching the University of Eldoret (UoE) cross country title, Kipkosgei said that he will be competing in the 3,000m steeplechase in the Under-20 category in search of a slot in Team Kenya to the continental championships set for Lusaka, Zambia next month.
“I have had good training and I am ripe for the trials as I seek to represent the country in Lusaka,” said Kipkposgei.
Kipkogei led Kipkemoi and Titus Kiprotich in a Kimuron clean sweep in times of 16:40.1, 16:54.2 and 16:59.0 respectively.
Kimmuron teacher and coach Boniface Limo said: “We have been preparing these boys well ahead of the trials. When schools close, we normally keep them in school for camping for training sessions,” he said.
“We normally train at the Kamariny Stadium or we take them to Sing’ore Girls’ for speed work. We seriously follow this timetable with the assistance of the school administration. We are doing well,” said Limo.
To ensure that the students perform well, they have been exposing them to various competitions like Athletics Kenya weekend meetings as well as school championships.
Kenya will be hoping to select a team strong enough to retain the Under-20 title as well as wrestle the Under-18 crown from South Africa.