Kosgei Finishes Runner-Up in 10,000 Meters at NCAA Championships

Courtesy of New Mexico Athletics

EUGENE, Oregon— Pamela Kosgei finished as national runner-up in the women’s 10,000-meter final on the first day of the women’s competition Thursday at the NCAA Outdoor Championships for New Mexico at Hayward Field.

Crossing in 31:56.49 and 1.61 seconds behind a 31:54.88 effort from Iowa State’s Mercyline Kirwa, Kosgei secured the first points of the meet for the Lobo women with a 1:04.37 bell lap, her fastest split of the 25 laps.

It’s the seventh First Team All-American finish of Kosgei’s career across XC, indoor and outdoor track and in the 5,000-meter distance and beyond, she’s never finished below third at either the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships.

In addition, her time Thursday was the third-fastest time in program history, giving the Lobo the top-three times in the 10,000 meters.

As the runners settled into the race, North Dakota’s Jadyn Keeler, BYU’s Jane Hedengren and Kosgei were the top three runners through the first 1600 meters, with the order holding until Keeler took water with 14 laps to go, resulting in a change in order. Hedengren took the lead, Kosgei moved into second and Keeler in third, which the order held for the next 13 laps.

With about 200 meters to go, Kosgei made her move, passing Hedengren to take the lead, however, Kirwa went with her and pulled away from Kosgei at the final turn with the Lobo sophomore unable to match her kick. While Kosgei turned in a 1:04.37 in the final lap, Kirwa ran a 1:01.84 to move from fifth to first in the final 400 meters.

Clocking an 11.13 in the third heat of the 100-meter prelims and a 22.99 in the first heat of the 200-meter Prelims less than an hour and a half later, Taniya Looney finished her outdoor season with two second-team All-America honors, finishing 13^th in the 100 and 15^th in the 200.

Following Kosgei’s runner-up finish, the Lobo women are tied for ninth in the team standings with eight points with a chance to add to the point total on Saturday as Kosgei and Marion Jepngetich close the championships for the Lobos in the 5000-meter final at 7:55 p.m. MT.

UNM returns to the track on Friday with Habtom Samuel running the 5000-meter final at 7:55 p.m. MT, closing the event for the Lobo men with the men also tied for ninth in the team standings with 10 points.