A Texas Tech athlete has received a sizable honor.

Red Raider senior distance runner Kennedy Kithuka has been named as the Mountain Region Male Track Athlete of the year.

The announcement was made Monday by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Kithuka has gone unbeaten in five individual races this season while breaking four school records. He currently ranks first nationally in the 5,000-meter run and fourth nationally in the 3,000-meter run.

“He is just the most deserving of any athlete in the nation,” said Tech head coach Wes Kittley. “He has gone undefeated, and has been such a team leader.”

Kithuka anchored the men’s distance medley relay team, which finished third at the Big 12 Indoor Championships, and earlier in the season, became the first Texas Tech athlete in school history to run a mile in under four minutes at the Texas A&M Challenge.

The Thika, Kenya native took Big 12 Indoor Championships in the 3,000-meter run and 5,000-meter run, and was also crowned the NCAA Cross Country Champion last fall.

Kithuka will now attempt to become the first male athlete in Texas Tech history to win a national championship in the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter runs this weekend at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the University of Arkansas.

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