Liberty University
Jesse Owens Track & Field Classic
Kurgat Places 5th in Jesse Owens Classic 5K
5/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Liberty freshman Ednah Kurgat clocked an outdoor personal-best time of 16:34.74 for fifth place in the showcase section of the women's 5K, Friday evening at the Jesse Owens Track & Field Classic. Senior teammate Jacy Christiansen placed 17th in the same race, contested at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
Kurgat, who ran near the front of the talented 20-member field, leapfrogged Christiansen for second place on Liberty's all-time outdoor women's 5K list. The Eldoret, Kenya native finished less than four seconds off of Ashley Osborne's program-record time of 16:31.00 from the 2010 season. Osborne and Coastal Carolina's Catherine Conder (conference-record 16:26.99 in 1996) are the only two Big South women's runners who have ever clocked a faster outdoor 5K than Kurgat recorded on Friday.
Kurgat, the Big South indoor women's 5K record holder at 16:28.29, gave herself an outside shot to qualify for the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet in a second event. A year ago, a time of 16:30.97 made it to the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet for the 5K. Kurgat appears to be safely into the preliminary round field in the 10K, thanks to her 34:38.75 clocking at the Raleigh Relays on March 27.
Christiansen's official time was 17:18.46, marking her second sub-17:20 performance of the 2015 outdoor season. Kurgat, Christiansen and Coastal Carolina's Kyla Van Graan are the only three Big South women to go under 17:20 thus far in 2015.
Christiansen and Kurgat will now prepare for the 2015 Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships, slated for May 14-16 at Vert Stadium in High Point, N.C.
A group of Flames and Lady Flames will have one final tuneup for the Big South meet at the Duke Twilight, set for Wednesday and Thursday at Morris Williams Track and Field Stadium in Durham, N.C.
The Duke Twilight will mark the second meet in Morris Williams Track and Field Stadium history. Liberty fared well at the facility's debut competition, claiming the men's team title and finishing second in the women's standings at the April 10-11 Duke Invitational.
