Record-setting runner

In May 2019, the United States Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association inducted Daniel Kirwa (’11), one of the most successful distance runners at Harding, into its Division II Track and Field Hall of Fame. “I was so excited,” Kirwa says of hearing the news of his induction. “I was not expecting it, and all of a sudden I got the news. It was amazing.” The Eldoret, Kenya, native racked up 13 All-American honors, five indoor and eight outdoor, and four individual national championships during his time with the program. Growing up in Kenya, Kirwa ran with a running club that did monthly time trials. His coaches posted times on the internet for American college coaches to see. Kirwa’s times were good, and he knew about Harding because two friends, Julius Kosgei (’09) and James Cheruiyot (’10), were already here. Kirwa wanted to attend a Christian university. “Harding was the perfect one, and everything worked out,” he says. “We found out very quickly that he was really good. He redshirted his freshman year, and the first season he competed he won his indoor national championship,” says former head track coach Steve Guymon. Kirwa’s national titles came during the 2008 indoor and outdoor and 2009 outdoor seasons. He started the 2008 season with a national championship in the mile along with a third-place finish in the 5,000 and followed it up with a 10,000-meter title at the outdoor meet along with a second overall finish in the 5,000. The 2009 outdoor season was a perfect one for Kirwa as he went 6-for-6 in his races, which included national titles in both the 5,000 and 10,000 in San Angelo, Texas. His 20 points was good enough to push Harding into the No. 13 place overall. “It was very difficult,” Kirwa says of winning both national championships at the same meet. The feat included running three races in three days. He won the 10,000 on Thursday and ran the 5,000 meters twice, once in the prelims Friday and again in the finals Saturday. “Coach Guymon was amazing,” Kirwa says. “He prepared me. I had my teammates pushing me to my limits. I was very focused, but it was a team effort. Everyone really helped me a lot.” Kirwa, a 2017 Harding Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, ended his career with the school records in the outdoor 5,000 (13:58.86) and 10,000 (28:36.23) and the indoor 1,500 (3:48.02) and 5,000 (14:03.35). He also sits top five in program history in the indoor 800 and mile. “It was such an honor to get to nationals and perform well and represent Harding at the highest levels,” Kirwa says. Kirwa is just the second athlete in program history to be enshrined into the USTFCCCA NCAA DII Track & Field Athlete Hall of Fame, joining Janet Cherebon-Bawcom (’05). “Daniel is so friendly and so talented, and everyone was in such awe of his talent, it inspired our other athletes to do the best they could do,” Guymon says. “Watching Daniel run was amazing. He was so powerful and gained so much ground with each stride.” Kirwa, now a medic in the United States Air Force stationed at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, continued his racing career after graduation. In 2012, he won half marathons in Germantown, Tennessee; St. Louis; and Knoxville, Tennessee. He won the Germantown Half Marathon again in 2015 and the 2018 Air Force Half Marathon in Dayton, Ohio. He has no plans of stopping. —Scott Goode, assistant athletic director for sports information