Monday, October 9, 2017

NEW ORLEANS – For the second time this season, Alaska Anchorage senior Caroline Kurgat has paired her GNAC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week selection with selection as the U.S. Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week.

Competing for the first time in over a month, Kurgat won the women's race at the Division II Conference Crossover on Saturday at Romeoville, Ill. Kurgat ran a time of 21:18.9 to beat the field of 359 athletes. She was 12 seconds better than runner-up Sarah Berger of Walsh.

Kurgat also earned both honors in the first week of the season after she was the top Division II finisher at the University of San Francisco Invitational on Sept. 2. She placed fifth and was beat by four Division I runners.

With the victory at the Division II Conference Crossover, Kurgat led Alaska Anchorage to a third-place team finish out of 34 teams with 126 points. The finish will likely vault the Seawolves back into the USTFCCCA Division II Coaches Poll, which will be released on Wednesday.

The victory provided a nice tune-up for Kurgat, who will aim to defend her conference at the GNAC Cross Country Championships on Sat., Oct. 21, in Bellingham, Wash. She claimed her first GNAC title last year, covering the 6,000-meter course at Lake Padden in a time of 21:17.10. Kurgat went on to claim the NCAA West Region championship and earned All-American honors with a third-place finish at the NCAA Division II Championships in Saint Leo, Fla.