Benard won the NAIA Men’s Cross Country Championships held at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence, Kan., completing the 8-kilometer course in 24 minutes, 36 seconds to best a 320-runner field. The sophomore from Kenya, who broke the tape about five seconds ahead of the runner-up, won five of his six races this season and finished second in the other, never losing to another NAIA competitor. Coach Brian Whitlock: "We believed in him being the champion, and he was able to go out and get it done. It was an awesome individual performance. Benard has trained really hard and worked really hard and deserves to win. It's a great feeling when a guy goes out and accomplishes what he set out to do. My hat goes off to him. This is a great accomplishment." Benard joins Kennedy Kithuka (2010 and 2011) as WBU national cross country individual champions.
