Lokedi finishes 44th at NCAA Championships
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kansas junior Sharon Lokedi ran to a 44th place finish at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday.
Lokedi, the first two-time All-American in Kansas women’s cross country history, was unable to claim her third All-America honor, needing a top-40 finish.
The Eldoret, Kenya native started the 6K race in good position, crossing the 2K mark in seventh place with a split of 6:23.9, one second behind the race leader, but dropped back to 15th by the 4K mark.
Lokedi struggled the remainder of the race, never able to find her stride, and ultimately fell back to 44th, four spots shy of her third All-America honor with a time of 20:15.14.
Despite her unexpected finish at the NCAA Championships, Lokedi enjoyed a successful junior campaign, winning her second Big 12 Individual title to become just the fourth female in conference history to win multiple championships. She also earned All-Region honors by finishing as the runner-up at the NCAA Midwest Regional in Ames, Iowa to earn her auto-qualification to the NCAA Championships.
“The other runners just out performed her today,” head coach Stanley Redwine said. “We will look at the video and determine how to prepare her both mentally and physically better for the upcoming indoor and outdoor seasons.”
Lokedi and the Jayhawks will open the indoor season on December 2 by hosting the Bob Timmons Challenge at Anschutz Sports Pavilion.
FOLLOW
@KUTrack
KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.
