AFTER A FAILED ATTEMPT to land at UTEP, followed by sojourns through El Paso Community College, the pandemic and a lost scholarship at Arizona, Utah Valley’s Everlyn Kemboi might have seemed like an unlikely favorite to win an NCAA title. Last year, she only placed 12th. Cross country season didn’t show much promise, either, when she finished 19th.
But she took flight this spring, her junior outdoor season, coming into the championships leading the collegiate list in the 5000 and notching an impressive runner-up at the Stanford Invitational 10K, earning a win prediction from the T&FN formchart.
In Austin, she showed that confidence was merited, taking gold in 32:39.08. A powerful last half-mile left defending champ Mercy Chelangat and the rest of the field reeling. Kemboi’s time was more than a minute faster than last year when conditions were friendlier.
Post-race, Kemboi credited “trust and patience” for her improvement, and she had plenty of that during the race. She calmly bided her time lap after lap, tucked just off the lead and never really challenging until late.
No one seemed in a hurry to shatter the pack, which still had 11 athletes as 5K was crossed in 16:43.7. The lead rotated among Miami–Ohio’s Ava Nuttall, Utah’s Emily Venters, and Alabama’s Chelangat, with circuits consistently in the high 70s and occasionally the low 80s.
At 8K, 5 finally made a break: Chelangat led, with Alabama teammate Hilda Olemomoi, Kemboi, New Mexico’s Amelia Mazza-Downie, and Venters in tow.
But Chelangat’s hopes of retaining her title were short-lived. On lap 23, Kemboi began her wind-up with a 74.36, and then began throwing fastballs. With 2 laps remaining, she suddenly had a 10m lead that became 20 and then 40 alarmingly quickly. A 69.45 penultimate lap sealed the deal; the 68.81 final was almost just for show.
Venters ran down Chelangat in the stretch for a distant silver, 32:47.70–32:49.62.
Kemboi credited her improvement to “trust in my training and being patient. Trust in my coaches.”
As for the race itself, that came down to “trust in my finish. I’ve been training well. I knew I could close in 68, 65. My coaches said, ‘Stay calm, sit with them, and then do your thing at the end.’”
Kemboi’s previous stint in Texas served her well on a hot (77) and humid (81%) night that had all the competitors shining with a thick layer of sweat. “I trained in Texas several times when it’s 102 degrees,” Kemboi said, “and I was like, ‘Yeah, Texas is my place.’ Going to Texas, this is fun.”
WOMEN’S 10,000 RESULTS
(June 08)
1. *Everlyn Kemboi’ (UtV-Ken) 32:39.08 (68.81, 2:18.26, 3:32.62, 4:49.65)
(75.05, 81.50 [2:36.55], 80.12 [3:56.67], 80.26 [5:16.93], 80.78 [6:37.71], 80.89 [7:58.60], 79.33 [9:17.93], 79.16 [10:37.09], 79.40 [11:56.49], 80.58 [13:17.07], 83.24 [14:40.31], 82.48 [16:02.79], 81.74 [17:24.53], 76.71 [18:41.24], 78.18 [19:59.42], 79.03 [21:18.45], 78.27 [22:36.72], 77.89 [23:54.61], 77.85 [25:12.46], 77.85 [26:30.31], 79.12 [27:49.43], 77.03 [29:06.46], 74.36 [30:20.82], 69.45 [31:30.27], 68.81);
2. Emily Venters (Ut) 32:47.70 (70.82, 2:25.56, 3:40.87, 4:58.24);
3. Mercy Chelangat’ (Al-Ken) 32:49.62 (73.09, 2:27.99, 3:42.69, 5:00.07);
4. *Amelia Mazza-Downie’ (NM-Aus) 32:51.90 (71.78, 2:29.03, 3:45.33, 5:02.20);
5. **Hilda Olemomoi’ (Al-Ken) 32:58.81 (76.56, 2:35.70, 3:52.12, 5:09.13);
6. Cailie Logue (IaSt) 33:06.86 (76.59, 2:35.83, 3:56.50, 5:16.02);
7. Amanda Vestri (Syr) 33:11.69 (77.11, 2:36.65, 3:57.09, 5:18.76);
8. *Kelsey Chmiel (NCSt) 33:14.09 (81.82, 2:43.30, 4:03.97, 5:23.52);
9. Annamaria Kostarellis (Bay) 33:21.34; 10. Aubrey Frentheway (BYU) 33:45.29; 11. *Ava Nuttall (MiaO) 33:51.78; 12. Alexandra Hays (NCSt) 33:54.09; 13. **Molly Born (OkSt) 33:54.16; 14. *Gracelyn Larkin’ (NM-Can) 34:00.22; 15. Camila Noe (MtSt) 34:06.64; 16. **Daisy Liljegren (BU) 34:13.36; 17. **Kenzie Doyle (MaL) 34:41.76; 18. ***Sophie Atkinson (Va) 34:51.58; 19. Eleanor Mancini (LaS) 35:19.21; 20. *Mariah Howlett (NCSt) 35:19.62; 21. *Monica Hebner (Tx) 35:39.23;… dnf—India Johnson (Co), **Erin Strzelecki (NDm);… dnc—*Annabel Stafford (CoSt).
