Wednesday, March 13, 2019

NEW ORLEANS – The awards keep rolling in for Alaska Anchorage national champion Caroline Kurgat. The senior has been named by the U.S. Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) as the organization’s Division II Indoor Women’s Track Athlete of the Year.

Kurgat was the women’s high-point scorer at last weekend’s Division II Indoor Championships, picking up a total of 22 points thanks to her national titles in the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters and her anchor leg on the Seawolves’ second-place distance medley relay team. She won the 3,000 meters in a time of 9:15.45 and captured the 5,000 meters in a time of 16:06.37, both meet records.

The national titles were the fourth and fifth in Kurgat’s career. She won the 2017 NCAA Division II cross country title and also won outdoor track championships in 2018 in both the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters.

The two national titles capped a season that saw Kurgat set Division II all-time bests in both events. Her 3,000-meter time of 9:07.05, run on Jan. 12, is two-seconds faster than the official record of 9:09.50 run by Cal Poly’s Amy Harper in 1983. Kurgat’s time of 15:28.46, run on Jan. 25, is 33 seconds faster than the record of 16:01.09 by Shippensburg’s Neely Spence in 2011. Both of Kurgat’s times were run on the oversized track at the University of Washington’s Dempsey Indoor.

In addition, Kurgat was named the Women’s Track Athlete of the Meet at the GNAC Indoor Track and Field Championships in February after winning titles in the mile and 3,000 meters.

Alaska Anchorage’s distance medley relay team, anchored by Kurgat, won at the GNAC Championships in a time of 11:23.47. That ranks as the sixth-fastest time in the event in Division II history.

This is the second National Athlete of the Year award presented by the USTFCCCA to Kurgat. She was named by the organization as its 2017 Division II Female Cross Country Athlete of the Year.