BATON ROUGE, LA – Dajour Braxton proved to be the SEC’s top young cross country runner in his debut season with the Tigers as he was named Tuesday morning as the SEC Men’s Freshman Cross Country Runner of the Year in its 2015 postseason awards voted on by the league’s head coaches.
Braxton has made history as the first LSU cross country runner on either the men’s or women’s teams to take home a major SEC postseason award by the coaches.
The Las Vegas native led the LSU men’s cross country team this season with two individual first-place finishes at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Festival and LSU Invitational, along with a 12th-place finish at the Crimson Classic, 29th-place finish at Arkansas’ Chile Pepper Festival and 30th-place finish at the SEC Championships.
Braxton also helped the Tigers win two team titles during the 2015 season, including the Allstate Sugar Bowl Festival and LSU Invitational. The Tigers finished in the Top 10 at the Crimson Classic and placed in the Top 12 at the Chile Pepper Festival, Texas A&M Invitational and SEC Championships.
Along with being named the SEC Men’s Freshman Cross Country Runner of the Year, Braxton also earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors after winning the LSU Invitational’s 5k race with a time of 15 minutes, 20.65 seconds. He later landed a spot on the SEC Men’s All-Freshman Team after clocking a personal-best time of 24:29.2 for 30th place during the men’s 8k race at the SEC Championship Meet.
Next for the LSU cross country teams is the NCAA South Central Regional Meet held at College Station, Texas. The regional meet will take place on Friday beginning at 10 a.m. CT.
For the latest information on LSU’s men’s and women’s cross country teams, fans can follow the Tigers and Lady Tigers on twitter @LSUTrackField and on Facebook by liking LSU Track and Field.
2015 SEC Cross Country Awards
Men’s Runner of the Year: Antibahs Kosgei, Alabama
Men’s Freshman Runner of the Year: Dajour Braxton, LSU
Men’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Christian Heymsfield, Arkansas
Men’s Coach of the Year: Chris Bucknam, Arkansas
Women’s Runner of the Year: Dominique Scott, Arkansas
Women’s Freshman Runner of the Year: Caroline Pietrzyk, Vanderbilt
Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Karis Jochen, Texas A&M
Women’s Coach of the Year: Lance Harter, Arkansas
BRAXTON’S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Allstate Sugar Bowl Festival (5k)
1st place – 16:11
LSU Invitational (5k)
1st place – 15:20.65
Texas A&M Invitational (8k)
42nd place – 24:49.9
Chile Pepper Festival (8k)
29th place – 24:34.18
Crimson Classic (8k)
12th place – 24:49.61
SEC Championships (8k)
30th place – 24:29.2