Another chapter was added to the Border War on Thursday evening at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore.
Missouri’s Karissa Schweizer was favored to take home gold in the 10,000-meter run, with a season-best time of 32 minutes and 0.55 seconds, leading all other runners in the nation by at least 15 seconds.
But Kansas’ Sharon Lokedi beat Schweizer by 5.74 seconds and took home her first national championship, finishing in a meet-record 32:09.20. Schweizer was third behind Louisville’s Dorcas Wasike.
“It was just pure joy, just finishing, I was like ‘I’m a champion, I’m just so happy, I did not expect that,” Lokedi said soon after the race, with the composure of somebody who had just finished a light jog, and not a collegiate 10K championship.