Chris-Anderson, Kasigwa claim weekly conference cross country awards

By Alan Wiederhold
HT Athletic Communications
 
NEW ORLEANS – Huston-Tillotson University cross country runners Denae Chris-Anderson and Don Kasigwa were honored with weekly awards in their sport by the HBCU Athletic Conference, the league announced earlier this week.
 
Chris-Anderson, an upperclassman from Westmoreland, Jamaica, was named the women's cross country Runner of the Week, while Kasigwa, a transfer to HT, was named the men's cross country Newcomer of the Week.
 
Both athletes led their HT teams at the NCAA Division I-heavy field at the 50th Rice Invitational on Friday, Sept. 11.
 
In the women's event, Chris-Anderson completed the 4,000-meter course with a time of 15 minutes, 58.5 seconds. She was the third non-Division I runner across the finish line, placing 21st out of 53 runners overall.
 
Her time of 15:58.5 is the fastest 4K time by an HBCU Athletic Conference competitor this season. Chris-Anderson also has the fourth-fastest time in the conference for 5,000-meter events.
 
Kasigwa, a junior from Gauteng, South Africa, and a transfer from Garden City Community College in Kansas, placed fourth among non-Division I runners at the Rice Invitational. He finished the 5,200-meter course with a time of 17 minutes, 29 seconds, placing 20th out of 67 overall competitors.
 
The top NAIA finisher in the previous week's UT Tyler Season Opener, Kasigwa has the fastest times in the HBCU Athletic Conference on 8,000-meter courses (27:47.4) and 5K/5.2K courses.
 
The Rams cross country teams return to action Saturday morning, Sept. 19, when they compete in Schreiner University's Mountaineer Hill Country Invitational. Meet time is scheduled for 8 a.m.
 
– HT –