ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Coming off of a dominating performance over the weekend at the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals in which she won the women’s white 6K race with a winning margin of 12.5 seconds, sophomore Weini Kelati was named the NCAA Division I Women’s National Athlete of the Week by USTFCCCA on Monday.
The Leesburg, Va., native finished the 6K race in 19:33.3, over 12 seconds ahead of teammate Ednah Kurgat, to take the individual title in the white race.
Kelati ran in the lead pack from the start, running with Kurgat and Kansas’ Sharon Lokedi at the two-kilometer point of the race. With just two-kilometers remaining, Kelati held a .2 second lead over Kurgat, which widened in the remaining portion of the race to the insurmountable lead and victory. Kelati also improved her time from the last time she stepped foot on the Zimmer Cross Country Championship Course two weeks prior by over two seconds.
Between the two women’s seeded races, Kelati produced the fastest time amongst all runners.
This is the second honor of the season for the sophomore, who was also named the Mountain West Cross Country Women’s Athlete of the Week on Oct. 2. It is however the first time that Kelati has been named National Athlete of the Week in cross country, as well as the fourth time that the women’s program has been honored.