After December Injury, Kipyego Ready To Make Most Of Senior Year Opportunities

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

It’s easy to tell how much passion and love Darius Kipyego has for the sport of running. Just ask him.

The senior at St. Raphael High animatedly speaks about being able to compete in a semi-normal cross country season this past fall, where he did quite well, finishing fourth at the Rhode Island State Championships.

To be clear, he’s actually one of the best high school prep middle-distance runners in the country. 

“We didn’t go too crazy in cross country, so it’s good to come out of that (season) showing where my strength level is that,” Kipyego said. “Cross country isn’t my sport, but still being able to fight up there and give it a good run; it goes into indoor and keeps that process going.”

WATCH THE NSAF USA MEET OF CHAMPIONS LIVE FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY

Kipyego, who finished a 2020 outdoor season that was drastically limited as US#3 in the 800 (1:48.82). He is ecstatic to keep that progress going this weekend as he officially opens up his outdoor track season this weekend at the NSAF USA Meet of Champions at Douglas Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach, S.C. He’s set to run his premier event, the 800 meters at 3:05 p.m. EDT Sunday. It’s been nearly six months since he last competitively ran an 800. 

“Really what I’m hoping to gain is just kind of seeing where I’m at the 800,” he said. “We did a little bit of a tuneup this past Saturday down in New Jersey for the 600, and clocking 1:19 was a little booster. I don’t think we’re going to be going for it too much, depending how it goes out.”

Kipyego heads into the Meet of Championships just about fully recovered from a stress fracture he acquired in December while he was training in Arizona. He said the injury he suffered was located above his left ankle and took him out of racing for about two months. He was able to come back and compete in February’s state indoor championships, where he finished second in the 600 (1:22.56) and guided his team to a 4x400 title (3:34.87).

“It was good to come back and see these guys happy,” Kipyego said of his final indoor state meet experience. “It took a while (to come back) and a lot of strength training, different types of training that I wasn't used to. But you have to be patient and learn from all of these opportunities, good and bad, and it’s just seeing what we can be doing differently and should be doing differently; it’s always a learning process.”

Kipego will test his 800 speed Sunday in a field that includes Matthew Griffin of Londonderry, N.H., who is coming off a second-place finish in the 600 (1:20.32) at the CYUP Misfits Invitational (Chicago).  

“Each workout is going better and we are going to keep pushing the limit and seeing where I can be,” Kipyego said.

Kipyego, who is committed to run for Iowa State this fall, owns a personal-best 1:48.82 in the 800 that he achieved last summer. While the national and senior high school record is 1:46.45, owned by Mike Granville of Bell Gardens, Calif., Kipyego is looking forward to his long-term goals this outdoor season and seeing what he can accomplish.

It all starts at the Meet of Champions.

“Something like this (MOC) doesn't happen very often, and just to be invited to this and compete against such high-quality athletes, it’s just a great opportunity because you don’t know how many of these races will happen,” he said. "I’m just really excited to get back out here and just do all I can, because it's going to be a long outdoor season and I have high hopes with some top times that I’m hoping to achieve this season.” 

QUARANTINE CONVERSATIONS - EP87 - DARIUS KIPYEGO (June 3, 2020)