Tuesday, September 5, 2017
NEW ORLEANS, La. – Alaska Anchorage senior Caroline Kurgat followed up her GNAC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week award with her selection as the U.S. Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II Women's Athlete of the Week.
Kurgat led the Seawolves at the University of San Francisco Invitational with a fifth place finish, covering the 6,000-meter course in a time of 21:39.3. She averaged a pace of 5:48 per mile despite unusually hot 90-degree temperatures in the Bay Area.
She helped the No. 7 Division II ranked UAA women’s cross country team finish third out of five teams. The other four were Division I teams. Four University of San Francisco runners bettered Kurgat – a team that finished sixth at the Division I Championships in 2016. Kurgat’s time of 21:39.3 was only eight seconds behind the winner (Weronika Pyzik, 21:31.7).
Kurgat joins Henry Cheseto (2014) as the only two Seawolves to be named an USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week in program history.
Kurgat enters the 2017 season as the defending GNAC and NCAA Division II West Region champion. She finished the 2016 campaign with a third place finish at the Division II National Cross Country Championships.