April 30, 2007

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Finishing a long weekend for Texas Tech track were five of the Red Raider distance runners at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational hosted by Stanford on Sunday. Two of the school's distance records, including one NCAA mark, fell on the night, with one time automatically qualifying sophomore Sally Kipyego for the NCAA Championships in June.

Kipyego, running her first 10000M event in Scarlet and Black, shattered former Tech national champion Leigh Daniel's mark in the event by nearly one minute and the previous NCAA record by 22 seconds. In a fast-paced race that had 12 runners beat the meet mark, Tech's Kenya-native sophomore ran a time of 31:56.72 to break Daniel's 1999 record of 32:53.95. The NCAA record was previously 32:19.97 set by Stanford's Alicia Craig in April 2004. Kipyego finished in sixth place, marking only the second time she has been defeated in a race as a Red Raider, but again fell behind professional athletes. The time is easily the fastest collegiate run in the country as Arizona State's Amy Hastings has the second-best mark of 32:30.37.

For 27 years the men's 5000M record has eluded any Red Raider distance runner - that was until Sunday night in Palo Alto, Calif. Senior All-American Kevin Chelimo erased Greg Lautenslager's April 24, 1980, mark of 13:44.1 from the Tech record books after running 13:40.83. The record sat as the sixth oldest men's outdoor school record and now gives Chelimo both the 5000M and 10000M. The Kabarnat, Kenya, native clocked his previous best earlier this year at the Mt. SAC Relays with a run of 13:44.61, his first regional mark of the year.

Junior Irene Kimaiyo, who already marked a regional qualification in the women's 5000M earlier this year, set a personal best in the event during her run Sunday. The 2006 All-American shaved 21 seconds from her previous best with a run of 15:58.41, beating her time of 16:19.58 from the 2006 Mt. SAC Relays. Kimaiyo's time earned her first of the 25 competitors and sits as the ninth-fastest 5000M time in the collegiate rankings.

Running in her first career 1500M run for Tech was Gladys Kipsang. The Keiyo, Kenya, freshman took first in the third section of the event after running a time of 4:33.27. Also competing in the women's 10000M was Violet Chemakwila, who already has one provisional mark in the event. The Tech senior ran a mark of 34:52.15, also a provisional qualification, but short of her 34:51.42 mark from earlier this year.

The Red Raiders will have the weekend off after dividing among three meets this week. The Tech teams will next join for the Big 12 Championships set for May 11-13 from Lincoln, Neb. For further coverage, please visit www.texastech.com.