MONROE, La. – After a strong start to the season and an impressive showing at the Hurricane Festival over the weekend, the cross country program swept the inaugural Warhawk of the Week awards as Hillary Kirwa earned Warhawk Male of the Week while Pauline Muiruri was named Warhawk Female of the Week.
Led by Kirwa's top-10 finish, the men finished ahead of No. 5 Tulsa. Kirwa kept pace with runners from three-time defending national champion and top-ranked Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma which was as high as No. 8 last season.
Kirwa, a junior from Eldoret, Kenya, posted a four-mile time of 20:43. He is coming off a year where he placed second at both the Warhawk Invitational and Northwestern Invitational. Kirwa finished 32nd at the SBC Championships, despite running with a nagging shin injury.
Muiruri, also from Eldoret, Kenya, ran the fastest time for the women and crossed the line in 18th at 12:32. She ran stride for stride with student-athletes from Oklahoma State which entered the weekend at No. 21 in the nation.
The sophomore came to ULM from Grand Canyon University where she was an All-America selection.
Kirwa, Muiruri and the ULM cross country squads will look to stay strong this weekend when they host the third annual Warhawk Invitational. Both the men and the women will look to defend their titles at 6:00 p.m. as they have finished in first over the last two seasons.
