WICHITA, Kan.- Wichita State Track & Field will send a small contingent of athletes to Lawrence for the Jayhawk Invitational and an even smaller section to Seattle for the UW Invitational.

Aliphine Tuliamuk-Bolton will travel to Washington in an attempt to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championship Meet in a race that will feature some of the elite 3,000m runners in the country. Watch Tuliamuk-Bolton's race live here.

"In recent years, lots of the top distance races in the United States have happened there and certainly this weekend is one of those," Head Coach Steve Rainbolt said. "There's going to be some great runners, a great field put together for a hot 3,000m run."

To qualify for nationals, Tuliamuk-Bolton will need to post one of the top 16 times in the nation in the 3,000m run. Tuliamuk-Bolton finished seventh at nationals in this event last year and was an NCAA first team All-American in the 3,000m run in 2012.

"I'm just going to see what happens in the race because sometimes you make plans and it just doesn't work out that way," Tuliamuk-Bolton said. "Sometimes you go to a race thinking it will be really fast and it ends up being so slow. I'm just going to work with what is going on."

Several professional runners will compete in the 3,000m at the UW Invitational. Tuliamuk-Bolton will be the only Shocker at the meet.

"I'm pretty amazed at how consistently Aliphine is able to go to the line and be ready to compete, so I'm anticipating nothing less," Rainbolt said. "I think she'll go out there and have a great race."

The senior from Kenya currently ranks 16^th in the nation this season in the 3,000m run. Her 9:30.13 time at the Herm Wilson Invitational currently ranks in a qualifying position, but Tuliamuk-Bolton sees this run as her best chance to qualify for nationals.

"They only want 16 people so I have a challenge," Tuliamuk-Bolton explained. "I want to go and run the 3k and 5k at nationals so this race will mean a lot to me. This is everything to me because I don't have any other chance to run a 3k."

Tuliamuk-Bolton holds Wichita State's and the Missouri Valley Conference's best time in the 3,000m run (9:11.49). She wants to break the nine-minute mark in her final collegiate season.

"To me, a 3k is still a short distance," Tuliamuk-Bolton said. "I'm just going to go out there and follow whoever is leading. Hopefully they're running fast because I don't want to take the lead. The few races that I've tried to take the lead did not turn out good."

While the primary focus of the week for Shocker track & field is Tuliamuk-Bolton's quest for a spot at the national meet, several Shocker athletes will travel north to Lawrence for additional competition.

"This is a low key event for us," Rainbolt said. "It's a situation where maybe somebody was injured and this is a good chance for them to get a second competition. Maybe it's a young athlete that we feel needs to compete quite a few times to have an opportunity to battle for a spot on our conference team."

The majority of Wichita State's Track & Field team will be back in action at the Varsity Apartments Invitational Fri., Feb.1 and Sat., Feb. 2 in the Heskett Center.

To get tickets for the Varsity Apartments Invitational and future Shocker Track meets, call 316-978-FANS (3267), click on the following link, or visit the Shocker ticket office in person at Koch Arena.

 -Wichita State-