The RoundHouse | 2/6/2021 2:29:00 PM

 
AUGUSTA - In early 2018, Winny Koskei ran like a lot of runners at Wichita State. A few top-10 finishes highlighted her short career. Solid for a redshirt freshman, but not hinting at what was to come.
 
In May, that changed. Koskei won the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the American Athletic Conference outdoor track meet and figured out she could win many more. That, her friends and coaches say, is the start of one of Wichita State's greatest distance careers. 
 
"I remember her coming back to the hotel and being like 'Yea, I want to win another one of these tomorrow,' and waving her medal around," said teammate Rebekah Topham. "It was very cute. She got a little taste of success and that really drove her."
 
On Saturday, Koskei added a third American Athletic Conference women's cross country title to her legacy. She is the first AAC runner to win three and will probably try for a fourth next fall with the season of eligibility available due to COVID-19.
 
"Why not?" she said.
 
Koskei, from Kericho, Kenya, ran the 6-kilometer course in 20 minutes, 29.24 seconds at 4 Mile Creek Resort to become the first Shocker to win three individual conference titles. She out-kicked Tulsa's Caitlin Klopfer (20:53.89) over the final 400 meters and up a slope to the finish line to win and qualify for the NCAA Championships on March 15 in Stillwater, Okla.
 
"I wanted to try and stick with them and see if I could try to sprint to kick at the end," Koskei said. 
 
Home-course advantage helped on a day with temperatures in the low 30s. Snow held off until late in the men's race.
 
"We talked about moving a lot earlier, about 1,200 meters out," Wichita State coach Kirk Hunter said. "She made a little move. It didn't feel right, obviously. She waited. There's very few people going to beat Winny up this hill on our course with the kick and strength she has."
 
The Wichita State women finished second behind Tulsa, the reigning champion. Wichita State's Yazmine Wright finished fifth (21:12.30) with McKenna Paintin (22:03.57) in 13^thto earn all-conference honors.
 
The Tulsa men won their seventh straight American title by placing five runners in the top seven over the 8-kilometer course. Wichita State finished fourth with Jed Helker at No. 14 (24:58.30) for all-conference.
 
Koskei won the JK Gold Classic 5-kilometer on the course two weeks ago. The delayed and abbreviated cross country season created uncertainty and limited or no opportunity to scout the field. That didn't hamper Koskei, who knew how to hug the course's curves and when to make her move.
 
"I didn't have any strategy going in," she said. "I was just going to go and try to stick with the group and see what happens at the end. I was going for three in a row, for sure."
 
 In her first conference meet, Koskei finished 18^thwith a time of 22:21.1. A few months later, she won the 5,000 (16:49.01) and the 10,000 (35:21.14) in the conference outdoor meet.
 
"Winning those titles was the pivotal point in her running career," Hunter said. "It led her to have confidence in her abilities and know she is capable of running with the high-level athletes. After that, there's been no stopping Winny."
 
Helker, a redshirt sophomore from Edmond, Okla., improved his conference finish from No. 31 in 2019. The top 15 runners earn all-conference honors and Helker finished strong to move into 14^th.
 
"I think what really did it for me, to secure that all-conference, was that with about 800 (meters) to go, it's downhill over here and I let myself fly," he said. "I think I dropped the 16^thplace guy trying to catch me and I was able to make up some ground on the 14^th-place guy. It's definitely a great advantage doing workouts out here."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.