Kenyan athlete makes history after winning prestigious award in USA

Kenyan athlete Doris Lemngole made history on Thursday, 18 December after claiming the highest individual honor in collegiate track and field - The Bowerman - at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas

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Lemngole, 23, received the award on the back of one of her finest seasons yet, which saw her win two of her four national titles in the indoor 5,000-meter and outdoor 3,000-meter steeplechase.

The Kenyan, who also represented the country at this year’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, beat fellow country-mate Pamela Kosgei and Michigan’s Savannah Sutherland to land the crown, which made her the first student-athlete in Alabama’s program history to win the sport's most prestigious award.

Kosgei, representing New Mexico as a finalist for the first time in the program's history, finished the year among the top three fastest athletes in collegiate history in three different events, while Sutherland shattered Sydney McLaughlin’s collegiate record in the 400-meter hurdles enroute to the NCAA title in June.

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In a year that saw her finish among the top three fastest athletes in collegiate history in three different events, Lemngole lowered her own steeplechase Collegiate Record twice, ultimately getting it at 8:58.15 in Eugene in June.

Her other collegiate record is in the indoor 5,000-meter, which she ran in December last year, timing 14:52.57.

The Alabama standout in 2025 also won three SEC titles, including the indoor 3,000-meter, outdoor 3,000-meter steeplechase, and the outdoor 5,000-meter.

On the men’s side, Arkansas’s Jordan Anthony claimed the top award, having edged a standout group of finalists that also included Baylor’s Nathaniel Ezekiel and Auburn’s Ja’Kobe Tharp.