PERSONAL BESTS
Indoor
800m – 1:48.75 (Razorback Invitational, 1/28/12)
Mile – 4:09.75 (SEC Championships, 2/25/12)
Outdoor
800m – 1:48.85 (Arizona State Tri-Meet, 4/14/12)
1,500m – 3:46.30 (John McDonnell Invitational, 4/21/12)

HONORS & AWARDS
2012 All-American
Two-time SEC indoor champion (mile, distance-medley relay)
Three-time All-SEC
2012 SEC Indoor Freshman Runner of the Year
2012 SEC All-Freshman Indoor and Outdoor Teams (indoor: mile; outdoor: 800m, 1,500m)
2012 NCAA West Preliminary qualifier (1,500m)

2012 || INDOOR: Rono anchored the distance-medley relay to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, earning first-team All-America accolades. He also ran the anchor leg for the team’s season-best time of 9:31.48 the previous week at the Alex Wilson Invitational. Rono was a two-time winner at the SEC Championships with victories in the mile and with the distance-medley relay. He set a personal-best time in the mile of 4:09.75 in the prelims. For his performances at the conference meet, he was voted as the SEC Freshman Runner of the Year. At the Razorback Invitational, he established a personal best of 1:48.75 at 800 meters and ran the opening leg of the first-place DMR. OUTDOOR: Rono qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary at 1,500 meters. He scored twice at the SEC Championships with a fourth-place finish at 800 meters and a runner-up effort at 1,500 meters, which was part of the team’s 1-2-3 sweep in the event. At the Drake Relays, Rono was the anchor leg in a pair of second-place finishes with the 4x800- and distance-medley relays. In consecutive weeks, he had personal-best times of 1:48.85 at 800 meters at the Arizona State Tri-Meet and 3:46.30 at 1,500 meters at the John McDonnell Invitational.

AT LYNDHURST HS: A middle-distance standout for the Golden Bears, Rono most recently won a pair of state titles at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions in June 2011. He ran to victories in both the 800 meters and 1,600 meters, clocking personal bests in both events with times of 1:50.10 and 4:10.01, respectively. In the previous competition, he was a double winner at the state's Group Championships meet. At the country and sectional championships in May 2011, Rono captured four titles-400 meters, 800 meters, 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters-at each event. He also won three events at the NJIC League Championships. During one stretch of his senior season, Rono won 16 consecutive finals. He owns a 5K personal best of 15:14, run in 2010 at the Bergen County Championships. He also found success at the national level with a 24th-place finish at the Foot Locker National Meet in December 2010. He qualified for the national meet by finishing seventh at the Northeast Regional. At the 2009 Nike Outdoor Nationals, Rono finished fifth and sixth in the 3,000 meters and two-mile run, respectively.

PERSONAL: Born April 8, 1992, he is the son of Peter Rono and Mary Kirui and is the middle of five children with siblings Irene, Winnie, Cynthia and Nosheena. Father was the gold medalist in the 1,500 meters at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. Rono plans to major in psychology at Arkansas.