Willy Kimosop was named road race male athlete of the year by Athletics Alberta.
In October, Kimosop won the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference championships in Red Deer by a landslide, finishing nearly an entire minute above the second place runner.
Kimosop helped the Kodiaks become the first team to win provincials in ACAC history for both the men’s and women’s categories.
Later in the season, Kimosop and the Kodiaks went on to the Canadian Colleges Athletic Conference national championships in Camrose. This time, Kimosop finished over a minute ahead of the pack with an unprecedented time of 25:23, claiming gold at the national championships and making him unbeaten in two consecutive seasons.
Kimosop also won several road races in the summer, including the Vancouver Sun Run out, beating over 10,000 runners.
The cross-country Kodiaks coach, Bertil Johansson, says he’s proud of the star Kenyan runner for more than just his athletic performance.
“I’m proud that he was able to get into the exercise science program. It’s a tough program so he’s got some work to do to maintain it.”
Johansson says Kimosop is very close to joining an elite company of runners far beyond Canada.
“He’s not at an Olympic level yet, but he’s at an international level… he’s not far away. Trust me.”
With Kimosop set to return next season, Johansson is convinced his runner will only improve.