Terry and Rotich Named 2019-20 Greatest Greyhounds

Terry and Rotich Named 2019-20 Greatest Greyhounds

Ryan Shumaker

Seniors Paul Terry and Mercy Rotich have been named the Male and Female Greatest Greyhounds for the 2019-20 athletic season.

Terry of Eastern New Mexico football becomes the 76th Male Greatest Greyhound in the history of Eastern New Mexico University while Rotich of women’s track and field becomes the 41st Female Greatest Greyhound in the university’s history. The Greatest Greyhound awards date back to 1940-41 on the men’s side and 1978-79 on the women’s side and is presented to a male and female Eastern New Mexico student-athlete every year that displayed the highest degree of athletic achievement, academic success, leadership qualities, community involvement and positive representation of Eastern New Mexico University.

Rotich continued to establish herself as one of the best distance runners to compete at Eastern New Mexico during this season’s indoor track and field season. The Eldorat, Kenya native won gold in both the 3,000 and 5,000 meter races at the 2020 Lone Star Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in Lubbock, Texas back on Feb. 21-22.

She broke the Lone Star Conference and Eastern New Mexico school record in the 5,000 meter race with a time of 17:16.52, defeating the next closest competitor in the race by over a minute. She posted a time of 10:12.25 in the 3,000 meter race to secure her second gold medal of the meet and received All-LSC First Team honors after securing 20 points towards the team score.

Rotich finished in the top 10 of every race she competed in during the 2020 season and combined her first place finishes at the LSC Championships with a win in the 5,000 meter race at the Texas Tech Shootout on Feb. 14-15 with a time of 17:21.62. She provisionally qualified for the Division II Indoor Track and Field National Championship Meet in both the 3,000 and 5,000 meter races.

She will add the 2019-20 Female Greatest Greyhound title to a long list of accolades she has received as a student-athlete at Eastern New Mexico following two historic seasons as a cross country athlete. She finished in sixth place at the 2016 Division II National Cross Country Championships after winning the South Central Region Championship, earning All-American honors and the South Central Region’s Runner of the Year title.

She returned in the 2018 season and won the 2018 LSC Cross Country Championship by more than a minute, becoming the first Greyhound to ever win the women’s LSC Championship event. She received All-LSC honors for both cross country seasons she competed in and holds the school record in both the 5K and 6K races.

Terry concluded his Greyhound career with his most impressive campaign yet, setting the Eastern New Mexico football school record for single season rushing yards with 1,888 yards on the ground. He helped lead the Greyhounds to their first postseason win in the Division II era with a 20-13 win over Southern Arkansas in the 2019 Heritage Bowl on Dec. 7.

The Amarillo, Texas native finished the 2019 season with a Lone Star Conference record 350 carries for 1,888 yards and 17 touchdowns. He led the Lone Star Conference and finished second in all of Division II football in rushing yards and was named as a First Team All-American selection by the Don Hansen Football Committee.

Terry was named All-LSC First Team for the second consecutive season and was a D2CCA All-Super Region Four Second Team selection in 2019 after being selected as a First Team recipient in 2018. He rushed for 100 or more yards in all but one contest in 2019 and set the ENMU school record for carries in a game twice with 40 attempts against both Midwestern State and Angelo State.

He was named the 2019 Heritage Bowl MVP after carrying the ball 26 times for 110 yards and three touchdowns to record all three scores for the Greyhounds in the game. He concluded his career inside Greyhound Stadium on Nov. 9 with a career-high 233 yards on the aforementioned school-record 40 carries to help Eastern New Mexico upset no. 21 Angelo State in the home season finale.

Terry finished his Greyhound career ranked third all-time in the school record books with 3,525 career rushing yards behind fellow Greatest Greyhound recipients Kamal Cass and Michael Benton. He ranks fourth all-time in school history in three separate categories including: rushing attempts (644), rushing touchdowns (32) and all-purpose yards (3,684).

Terry and Rotich will each be honored at the annual Hall of Honors banquet that will take place on a date to be determined.