KINGSVILLE, TEXAS – Caroline Kurgat of Alaska Anchorage won her seventh career national title and seven Seawolves earned All-American honors on the final day of the NCAA Div. II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships Saturday.
Kurgat won the 5,000 in 17:10.10 to claim her second national title at the championships after winning the 10,000 on Thursday. Kurgat becomes only the third woman in Div. II to sweep the 5,000 and 10,000 in back-to-back years. Christie Allen of Pittsburg State first achieved the feat in 1992-93, and Kasia Arient of Lewis achieved it in 1997-98.
Kurgat sat in the back of the pack during the early laps of the race before making her way near the front after the first mile. Kurgat shadowed the leader for the second mile before taking the lead with four laps to go. Her last four laps (1:20, 1:13, 1:12, 1:10) were her four fastest of the race as she pulled away from the rest of the field.
Danielle McCormick earned her seventh career All-American honor after finishing fourth in the 800 in 2:09.71. McCormick ran a smart race but could not match the speed of Skylyn Webb who won her third national title in the event in 2:06.96.
McCormick would add one more All-American honor to her name as she ran the second leg of the women's 4x400 that finished eighth in 3:47.87. Vanessa Aniteye ran the opening leg before giving the stick to McCormick. Marie Ries ran the third leg and then Tylantiss Atlas ran anchor.
Chrisalyn Johnson saved her best jumps for last in the triple jump. She was sitting in 13th place with one jump left before leaping out to 41-1 to move to sixth and advance to the finals. She came through once again in the finals posting a personal-best mark of 41-4.25 to finish seventh and her the first All-American honor of her career.
The UAA women finished seventh in the team standings with 28 points. UAA's seventh place team finish ties (2013) for the highest finish in program history at an outdoor championship. The men finished 27th with 11 points.
