Lokedi breaks 10K school record at Stanford Invitational
STANFORD, Calif. – Seven Kansas track & field distance runners competed in the California Bay Area on Friday with senior Sharon Lokedi highlighting the action. Lokedi competed in the 10,000-meter run at the Stanford Invitational in Stanford, California, where she clocked a school-record time of 32:21.19.
Lokedi, a product of Kapkenda Girls’ School in Eldoret, Kenya, finished fifth in the invitational section of the women’s 10K on her way to breaking her own school record set last season at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon. The Kansas senior clocked in 25 seconds faster than her third-place time at the NCAA Championships last year, and now holds the seven fastest times ever ran in the 10K by a KU female and eight of the top-10.
The school record is just one of five that Lokedi can lay claim to, as she also holds the record in the outdoor 5,000 meters set last season at the Stumptown Twilight, as well as three indoor school records all set this indoor season. She broke her own indoor 5,000-meter record at the Boston University Season Opener, notched the school record by 17 seconds in the 3,000 meters at the Iowa State Classic and helped the women’s distance medley relay team break the school record at the Alex Wilson Invitational.
Lokedi’s school record time all-but solidifies her spot in the event at the NCAA Division I West Preliminary Round in Sacramento, California, May 24-26, as the top 48 athletes in each event qualify.
Fifth-year senior Courtney Coppinger also competed at the Stanford Invitational, where she recorded a personal-best performance in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, coming in 10 seconds faster than her prior career mark set last year at the Big 12 Championship. The Mission Hills, Kansas native clocked in at 10:09.74 to finish seventh and improve her standing as the No. 2 performer in the event in Kansas women’s history.
Junior Dylan Hodgson also clocked a personal-best performance in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Stanford Invitational, crossing the finish line at 8:47.81. The time moves the Washington, Kansas product into the No. 7 position on the Kansas men’s all-time list from the No. 8 spot with his previous-best of 8:50.04, jumping Paul Schultz’s 1980 time of 8:47.97.
Avery Hale, Michael Melgares, Jack McDonald and Chace Hale all competed at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival at the Chabot College Track in Hayward, California. Avery Hale ran the 10,000 meters, finishing with a time of 30:56.43, while the other three ran the 5,000 meters. Melgares was the top finisher for the Jayhawks in the 5K, clocking in at 14:55.53, while Chace Hale came in at 15:13.99 and McDonald finished in 15:28.71.
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