WICHITA – Wichita State's Mercy Jepkoech claimed her first American Conference weekly award, the conference announced Tuesday afternoon.
 
The freshman from Eldoret, Kenya was named the American Conference Athlete of the Week following a top-10 finish at the Chile Pepper Festival. She ran 16:54.2 in the 5,000-meter race, recording the best finish by an American Conference runner in the competition.
 
She has finished in the top 10 in all three meets she has raced in thus far and is set to run again with the rest of the team at the Pre-National Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 18 in Columbia, Mo.