ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — University of New Mexico cross country athlete Ednah Kurgat was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division I Women’s Athlete of the Week, the organization announced Monday.
She also earned Mountain West Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week honor on Tuesday, completing the weekly award sweep.
Running her first competitive cross country race as an attached collegian since the 2015 NCAA Championships, Kurgat won the Women’s Blue Race last Friday at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational in a time of 16 minutes, 1.8 seconds.
Kurgat, a sophomore from Eldoret, Kenya, by way of Liberty University, helped lead the No. 3 New Mexico women to a second-place finish, just four points behind No. 1 Colorado (51-47).
The Lobos earned four wins over other teams ranked in the USTFCCCA poll as they earned their eighth-straight top-four performance at Notre Dame.
She won by 10.2 seconds over teammate and runner up Alice Wright and beat seven runners ranked in FloTrack’s FloXC Women’s Individual Rankings
Kurgat lead for essentially the entire race, owning the lead at one mile (5:02.1) and at four kilometers (12:43.9)
Kurgat’s final time also set a new race record over a full five-kilometer course, eclipsing Notre Dame’s Anna Rohrer’s best of 16:11.7, which Rohrer ran last year.
New Mexico’s Charlotte Arter had the race’s all-time, all-conditions best of 16:09.3, but that race was shortened by about 150 meters due to poor conditions. Arter was also the last Lobo to win at Notre Dame, and she was the last Lobo to earn National Athlete of the Week in cross country.
The Lobos return to action on October 15, when they’ll travel to the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational in their final meet before the championship season.
Fans can follow @UNMLoboXCTF on Twitter and Instagram to keep track of the Lobos!