COLUMBIA, Mo. — Morgan Nokes became the second All-American in Utah Valley cross country history on Saturday, placing 23rd in the women's 6k National Championship race with a time of 19:10.4.
Nokes joins Everlyn Kemboi — who placed 19th back in 2022 — as the only two All-Americans in cross country program history. In his first trip to Nationals, freshman Sila Kiplagat finished 135th with a 10k time of 29:51.1.
"Morgan is an All-American, and that's a huge thing when you think of 315+ teams in the country with 20 athletes, and it just goes to show how good she is," said head coach Scott Houle. "She had a great race and every 1000 meters she was passing people. Her time at each kilometer was great, and she gave herself a shot to get the place she earned. I'm proud of the confidence she has, and it just shows you can achieve these things anywhere if you follow the process and work hard, and she's another one in a long list that we've been able to do that with. I'm proud of her efforts, her belief in us and the school, and her representing the school."
Nokes capped off her storybook season with her best 6k time of her collegiate career and improved by 33 seconds on her time from her previous run on the Gans Creek Cross Country Course earlier this season.
After finding herself in 73rd at the first kilometer, Nokes steadily worked her way back towards the front, climbing at least eight spots at each checkpoint. Between the second kilometer and the fourth kilometer, Nokes climbed 24 spots to move from 64th to 40th. Down the home stretch, Nokes climbed nine spots to 31st at the 5k mark, then rose eight spots to 23rd at the end.
Nokes' All-American finish is the culmination of an arduous and inspirational return for the graduate student from Boise, Idaho. Just eight months ago, Nokes gave birth to her son, Theo, and trained her way back to put up arguably the best individual season in program history. Nokes won a women's team-record five races this season, was named the WAC Women's Athlete of the Year, and finished seventh at last week's Mountain Regionals.
Kiplagat started off strong through the first two kilometers, peaking as high as 50th, but faded back to 163rd by the fourth kilometer. Kiplagat was able to surge up to 138th at the halfway point, but wouldn't rise any higher until the final kilometer when he was able to pick up 19 spots, going from 154th to 135th.
After arriving mid-season, Kiplagat made up for lost time with an impressive freshman campaign. Kiplagat won his second collegiate race, the Color Country Invitational, and was the men's team's top finisher in every race he competed in, including a runner-up finish at the WAC Championships. Kiplagat was named the WAC Men's Freshman of the Year.
Utah Valley will now shift its attention to the indoor season, which will begin in a few short weeks. The Wolverines' first meet will be on December 10-11 at the BYU December Invitational in Provo.
