PITTSBURG, KANSAS – Senior Caroline Kurgat won her fourth career national title after winning the 5,000 at the NCAA Div. II Indoor Track and Field Championships Friday.
Kurgat, a native of Eldoret, Kenya, won the 5,000 in a time of 16:06.37, setting a new NCAA Div. II Championship and facility record.
Kurgat led from the start coming through the first mile in around five minutes. The race was quickly down to a three woman race before Kurgat found herself alone for the final mile and a half.
This is Kurgat's fourth national title, her first in indoor track and field, with the others coming in cross country in 2017, and the 5,000 and 10,000 in outdoor track and field in 2018.
The celebration did not last long as Kurgat anchored the distance medley relay 35 minutes later.
Sophomore Ruth Cvancara ran the opening 1,200 leg for the Seawolves and handed off to junior Vanessa Aniteye in third place. The Seawolves slid to fourth before handing off to senior Danielle McCormick for the 800 leg. McCormick, who ran in the 800 prelims earlier in the day, clawed the Seawolves back into a tie for second place before handing the stick to Kurgat. Kurgat faced a daunting task of trying to close a 30-meter gap on Roisin Flanagan of Adams State in less than a mile. Despite her best effort, Adams State won the title with Alaska Anchorage in second in a time of 11:26.00, less than five seconds behind ASU.
Kurgat will compete in the 3,000, where she holds the all-time Div. II record (9:07.05), Saturday.
In the men's distance medley relay, the Seawolves found themselves battling from the back for most of the race. UAA was in the middle of the pack after the opening leg by sophomore Felix Kemboi. The Seawolves dropped further behind during the second and third legs by freshman Nathanial Brunett and senior Eduardo Orozco. CSU-Pueblo and Grand Valley had a large lead at the start of the 1,600 leg but a slow pace allowed the entire field to bunch up. The race turned into a pure sprint over the final 600 meters with freshman Drew Johnson carrying the team to a seventh-place finish in a school-record time of 9:50.04 to earn All-American honors.
“”Very proud of the team today,” said head coach Michael Friess. “It's not often that you have a nine All-American night. And what can say about Caroline? Winning a national title with a facility and meet record and then doubling back to anchor a team to second in the DMR. She's a special athlete. Now it's time to get Dani and Caroline ready for tomorrow.”
Senior Danielle McCormick qualified for the final 800 Saturday, where she is the defending national champion. The Soldotna, native ran the second-fastest qualifying time (2:07.83).
Freshman Nancy Jeptoo finished seventh in her heat and 14th overall (5:01.15) and did not advance to the final of the women's mile.
The women's team is currently tied for second place with 18 points, and the men are tied for 26th with two points.
The NCAA Div. II Indoor Track and Field Championships conclude Saturday.
