Kurgat to Run 5K at NCAA Indoor Track Championships
3/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Liberty sophomore Ednah Kurgat has qualified to race in the women's 5K at the 2016 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships, it was announced tonight.
For the first time, the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships will be contested at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala., March 11 and 12. Kurgat's race will begin at 9:25 p.m. Eastern on March 11 and will air live on ESPN3.
Kurgat's first career appearance at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships will mark the first time Liberty has been represented at the event since Sam Chelanga ran in the men's 3K and 5K in 2011. Kurgat, a native of Eldoret, Kenya, will be the first Lady Flame to compete at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships since Jaime Watson qualified in the women's 800 in 2010.
Kurgat has only raced at the 5K distance once this year, but it was a memorable performance. She shattered her own Liberty and Big South Conference records with a 15:47.89 clocking at the Husky Classic, Feb. 12 in Seattle, Wash. Kurgat placed fourth in the race and currently ranks No. 12 nationally this season.
For Kurgat, this will mark her second NCAA national competition of the 2015-16 academic year. She previously placed 12th at the 2015 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on Nov. 21 in Louisville, Ky., becoming the Lady Flames' first-ever NCAA Division I cross country All-American.
After winning the Big South women's mile and 3K titles over the weekend in Blacksburg, Va., Kurgat will take this weekend off from competition. However, a sizeable group of her teammates will travel to Boston for the 2016 IC4A and ECAC Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships. The meet will take place Friday through Sunday at the Boston University Track & Field Pavilion.
