CONCORDIA - Cloud County men's cross country and track and field alumni Benard Keter has qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in the 3,000 meter steeplechase for team USA.
Keter, who was a member of the 2013-14 Cloud County cross country and track and field teams, finished second this past weekend in the finals of the 3,000 meter steeplechase at the United States Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon by posting a time of 8:21.81 and will join Hillary Bor (8:21.34) and Mason Ferlic (8:22.05) as the three United States representatives in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.
A native of Nakuru, Kenya, Keter was a First-Team NJCAA All-American in both cross country and half marathon in 2013 for CCCC by taking fifth in the NJCAA Cross Country Championships and National Runner-Up honors in the NJCAA Half Marathon Championships. Keter would then go on to a pair of All-American finishes in the 2013-14 NJCAA indoor track and field season by finishing National Runner-Up in the 3,000 meters and third in the 5,000 meters while setting Cloud County records in both events (the 5,000 meter-record still stands today). Capping off his lone year with the T-Birds, Keter would become an NJCAA National Champion in the 3,000 meter steeplechase at the 2014 NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships by running a time of 9:06.27 while also finishing as National Runner-Up in the 5,000 meters (14:37.00) with the 5,000 meter time serving as an outdoor track school-record that still stands today.
Keter would go on to compete at Wayland Baptist University for one year before trasferring to Texas Tech University, winning an NAIA National Championship for the Pioneers in cross country in 2014 and National Runner-Up in 2015. On the track at WBU, Keter was a two-time National Champion in the 5,000 meters and 3,000 meter steeplechase before finishing third in the 3,000 meters in indoor track and the 10,000 meters in outdoor track. At his final stop in Lubbock, Texas, Keter would win multiple Big 12 Conference titles in both cross country and track and field on his way to a 10th place finish at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Keter still holds the 3,000 meter steeplechase record at both Wayland Baptist and Texas Tech.
Following his years as a collegiate athlete, Keter would go on to join the United States Army and is currently a Unit Supply Specialist while running for the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program. Keter would compete at the 2019 Pan American Games in the 3,000 meter steeplechase in Lima, Peru, finishing as the top American runner and fourth overall with a time of 8:32.76.
The men's 3,000-meter steeplechase competition in Tokyo is scheduled to start July 30, with the first round, while the event finals will take place Aug. 2.