Liberty Athletics Hall of Fame
Sam Chelanga
- Induction:
- 2017
- Class:
- 2011
Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field: 2008-11
Sam Chelanga is Liberty’s most successful student-athlete at the NCAA Division I level, having won four individual national championships during his time with the Flames’ cross country and track & field programs.
Chelanga burst onto the scene in 2009, winning the first of two consecutive national titles in men’s cross country (2009 and 2010). The long distance runner would also go on to claim national championships at the NCAA Outdoor Track Championships in the 10K in 2010 and the 5K in 2011. He became the first student-athlete in school history to win multiple national championships.
Chelanga set a new NCAA record in 2009, clocking a time of 27:28.48 in the men’s 10K on April 24, 2009, and broke his own record with a time of 27:08.39 on May 1, 2010, which stood for over a decade. He was a two-time finalist for the Bowerman award (2010 and 2011) and a three-time Big South Howard Bagwell Male Student-Athlete of the Year award winner (2009, 2010 and 2011).
The 14-time All-American and native of Nairobi, Kenya, started competing professionally in 2011 and earned a Nike sponsorship. He gained United States citizenship in 2015 and led Team USA with an 11th-place finish at the 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
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Sam Chelanga is Liberty’s most successful student-athlete at the NCAA Division I level, having won four individual national championships during his time with the Flames’ cross country and track & field programs.
Chelanga burst onto the scene in 2009, winning the first of two consecutive national titles in men’s cross country (2009 and 2010). The long distance runner would also go on to claim national championships at the NCAA Outdoor Track Championships in the 10K in 2010 and the 5K in 2011. He became the first student-athlete in school history to win multiple national championships.
Chelanga set a new NCAA record in 2009, clocking a time of 27:28.48 in the men’s 10K on April 24, 2009, and broke his own record with a time of 27:08.39 on May 1, 2010, which stood for over a decade. He was a two-time finalist for the Bowerman award (2010 and 2011) and a three-time Big South Howard Bagwell Male Student-Athlete of the Year award winner (2009, 2010 and 2011).
The 14-time All-American and native of Nairobi, Kenya, started competing professionally in 2011 and earned a Nike sponsorship. He gained United States citizenship in 2015 and led Team USA with an 11th-place finish at the 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
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