Nicodemus Rotich named LSC Runner of the Year.

The freshman won all four races this season and swept LSC weekly awards for the season.

RICHARDSON – Texas A&M University-Commerce freshman cross country star Nicodemus Rotich has been named the Lone Star Conference Runner of the Year after sweeping through the 2020 season. 

Rotich (Eldoret, Kenya) has won every race the Lions have competed during the 2020 season, the Orville Rogers Opener, the East Texas Shootout, the Blue & Gold Invite, and the Lone Star Conference Championship. 

He is the first A&M-Commerce runner to win LSC Runner of the Year honors, which inaugurated in 2008. Rotich’s win snaps a streak of five straight seasons where a West Texas A&M runner won the award. 

They previously named him the LSC Freshman of the Year and the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association National Athlete of the Week. He won the LSC Runner and Freshman of the Week awards each time they awarded, becoming the first student-athlete in conference history to sweep weekly awards in any season. 

Rotich’s conference championship time of 24:51.0 on the 8-kilometer course in San Angelo gave him a nearly 14-second margin of victory. Rotich is the Lions’ fourth all-time LSC Champion, second LSC Freshman of the Year, and 27th First Team All-LSC honoree. The Lions last had a First Team All-LSC honoree in 2016. 

“It’s great for Nicodemus to be the recipient of this award,” said Lion track and field and cross country head coach George Pincock. “As a freshman running cross country for the first time, he’s done a great job. He’s very competitive, and his desire to be at the front of the pack at the end of the day has paid off. I’m very proud of Nicodemus, and I look forward to seeing what he can do this weekend at the National Invitational.” 

Rotich and the Lions wrap up the season on Saturday in Lubbock at the National Invitational meet, which will be their first 10-kilometer race of the season.