AUSTIN, Tx. - New Mexico sophomore and Heritage Leesburg alum, Weini Kelati just won her first NCAA title with her 33:10.84 facility record in the 10,000 meter run. Fellow Virginian Caroline Alcorta was 5th in 33:20.
To win this title she had to run a smart race and make her move with plenty of distance to go. A lesson she learned after finishing second in XC.
The race itself was a very packed race throughout. Kelati and Notre Dame's Rohrer exchanged the lead throughout. In fact, just those two were the only leaders the entire race. Around 8000m though Kelati threw down a 1:14 split (her second fastest of the race) to open a ~five second gap.
She maintained that lead until the final 200m where Camela Cardama Baez pulled even with her and even slightly took an inch lead with less than 100m to go. It was there that Weini put on the jets and separated with under 50 meters in the race. She ultimately won by a margin of 0.72 seconds over Cardama Baez.
Weini's splits were: 1:19, 1:28, 1:31, 1:26, 1:15 (2K in 7:00.57), 1:17, 1:19, 1:19, 1:18, 1:18 (4K in 13:43.33), 1:19, 1:23, 1:20, 1:19, 1:23 (6K in 20:20.47) , 1:20, 1:17, 1:18, 1:18, 1:14 (8K in 26:49.81), 1:16, 1:16, 1:17, 1:17, 1:12.
Weini's places amongst her fellow competitors over the 25 lap race were: 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd (4000m), 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 1st (8000m), 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st.
