Friday, May 17, 2019

NEW ORLEANS – The final words have yet to be written on Caroline Kurgat’s final collegiate outdoor track and field chapter, but that hasn’t stopped the kudos from rolling in.

For the second time in as many years, the Alaska Anchorage senior distance phenom has been named by the U.S. Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) as its 2019 Division II West Region Female Track Athlete of Year.

In addition to Kurgat’s award, Western Washington assistant coach Eric Dudley was honored as the Division II West Region Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year.

Kurgat has put together another incredible season. Running NCAA Championships qualifying times in four events, including automatic qualifying in every event from the 1,500 meters and longer, Kurgat is scheduled to run both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters in next week’s meet. Kurgat set the Division II all-time record in the 10,000 meters with a time of 32:08.09 at the Stanford Invitational in March. That time continues to rank No. 3 across all college divisions this season and is top-30 in the world this season.

She owns the top time in Division II in the 5,000 meters with a 15:40.45 at the Bryan Clay Invitational. That time is No. 3 all-time in Division II and is the No. 11 across all college divisions this season.

Kurgat swept the distance events at last week’s GNAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, presented by Under Armour, earning Female Track Athlete of the Meet honors. Despite the heat, her winning time of 4:23.02 in the 1,500 meters set a GNAC Championships record.

Dudley, in his third season at Western Washington, was recognized for his work with the Vikings’ sprinters and hurdlers. Dudley mentored junior Cordell Cummings to GNAC championships in both the 110-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles, which included a meet-record time of 51.77 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles. He also coached freshman Karlington Anunagba to a time of 10.33 seconds in the 100 meters, qualifying for the NCAA Championships.

In all, Dudley’s athletes contributed 46 points to the total of the 173 points Western Washington used to win the GNAC championship.