Purity Sanga
-
- Height:
- 5-0
-
- Hometown:
- Kapsabet, Kenya
-
- Year:
- So.
-
- Previous School:
- St. Theresa Tartar Girls HS
Bio
2018: Made a strong impression in the distance running events during the indoor season … placed fourth in the 5,000 meters and fifth in the 3,000 meters at the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships … took at least one top-six result at every meet, including a victory in the 5,000 meters at the Vanderbilt Commodore Invitational … recorded three top-sixes in the 5,000, four in the 3,000, and two in the mile run … notched personal bests of 5:06.53 in the mile, 9:59.52 in the 3,000m, and 17:29.47 in the 5,000.
Personal: Native of Kapsabet, Kenya ... nursing major.
News mentions
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Khemani Roberts and Purity Sanga exerted tremendous effort among the nation’s elite at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Preliminary on Thursday, but unfortunately saw their 2019 outdoor seasons come to an end at the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville. “Very proud of these young ladies,” said Tech head coach Wayne Angel. “It was a very long season, and they accomplished what most (Ohio Valley Conference) athletes can only dream of. They certainly are a part of Tennessee Tech legend and lore.” With the best collegiate athletes from the eastern half of the United States in attendance, the margin for error becomes incredibly slim.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Khemani Roberts, Purity Sanga and Raven Smith will bring their talents to the University of North Florida for the first round of collegiate track and field’s version of the postseason, the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Preliminary. UNF’s Hodges Stadium will be the venue for the three-day meet, which will be held Thursday-Saturday, May 23-25. The Golden Eagle trio marks four straight outdoor seasons that the program has sent at least two athletes to the East Preliminary. Roberts and Sanga are both qualifiers for the second straight year.
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Battling a cold rain that hung around for most of the day, the shorthanded Tennessee Tech track and field team received runner-up results from Raven Smith and Purity Sanga on its way to a sixth–place team finish on Saturday at the Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Championships in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Taking sixth in the final standings ends Tech’s reign of three consecutive OVC championships (2018 indoor, 2018 outdoor, 2019 indoor), which were also the first three in the program’s history. While some key pieces were not in the lineup this weekend, the Golden Eagles never gave up, and still managed to finished in the top half of the 12 women’s teams in attendance.
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Jumpers Khemani Roberts and Raven Smith generated the storylines for Tennessee Tech on the second day at the Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Championships, as Roberts claimed her second straight league title in the high jump, while Smith broke the school record with her second-place finish in the long jump. Roberts’ crown gives her the indoor/outdoor sweep as league champion in the high jump, where she was the only competitor to get over the bar at 1.75 meters (5 feet, 8 3/4 inches). The Bon Accord, Trinidad and Tobago native was perfect at the first five heights in the competition, needing just one attempt to eclipse 1.59, 1.64, 1.69, 1.72 and 1.75 meters, before bowing out at 1.80.
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – In the final event of the evening, Sharon Chepkemboi scored Tennessee Tech’s first three points in the 10,000 meters, and Purity Sanga Khemani Roberts and Ceirra Tate posted qualifying marks in their respective preliminaries to highlight Tech’s Day 1 effort at the OVC Outdoor Championships on Thursday. Participating in the race for the first time as a collegian, Chepkemboi collected her three points as a result of a sixth-place finish out of 19 runners in the 10,000. She was the fastest non-senior in the competition, completing the meet’s longest distance event in 38-minutes, 6.01-seconds. Eastern Kentucky’s Lillian Kiborus claimed the league crown with a 36:13.98.
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Coach Wayne Angel and the Golden Eagle track and field team will likely face their stiffest challenge to date as they try to repeat as outdoor champions of the Ohio Valley Conference. Rising programs around the league, along with an adjusted Tech lineup will make for an especially tall task when the OVC Outdoor Championships are contested at Southeast Missouri Thursday-Saturday, May 9-11. Action from Abe Stuber Track Complex, SEMO’s on-campus venue, will get underway at 9 a.m. on Thursday morning, continue Friday morning at 9:30, and conclude Saturday with events beginning at 8:30 a.m.
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Two more major awards will soon be added to the Tennessee Tech track and field trophy case, as it was announced Wednesday afternoon by the Ohio Valley Conference office that Purity Sanga was named Co-Track Athlete of the Year, while Khemani Roberts was selected as Field Athlete of the Year. The respective honors salute the dominant outdoor seasons put forth by both Sanga and Roberts, two athletes who have not only helped rewrite the Tech record book in 2019, but have recorded multiple No. 1 conference marks, and included themselves among the best in NCAA Division I.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Raven Smith and Purity Sanga showed once again why they are among the stars on the Tennessee Tech track and field team, recording top-eight finishes in the triple jump and the 1,500 meters, respectively, at the Louisville Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational on Saturday afternoon. Smith took the top finish of the day, placing fourth among 29 in the seeded section of the triple jump with a mark of 12.26 meters (40 feet, 2 3/4 inches). It marked the third time in four tries that Smith – the owner of the league’s top triple jump, 12.46 meters (40-10 3/4) – has notched a top-six result in the event this outdoor season, and the second time she has leapt more than 40 feet. It was the third-best outdoor triple jump of the Atlanta native’s career.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With the Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Championships just two weeks away, Tennessee Tech track and field will undergo its final preparative step this weekend when it travels to Louisville for the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational. The Friday-Saturday meet will be held at UL’s Track and Soccer Stadium inside Cardinal Park, with the first TTU athletes competing at 3 p.m. CT Friday afternoon and 9:30 a.m. Saturday morning.
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – For the second time this outdoor season, Tennessee Tech track and field standouts Khemani Roberts and Purity Sanga reeled in a sweep of the Ohio Valley Conference Athlete of the Week awards. Released by the league office Wednesday, Roberts clinched her third Field Athlete of the Week honor of the outdoor season, while Sanga took home Track Athlete of the Week for the second time. Roberts turned heads on the national scale with her second-place heptathlon performance at the Virginia Challenge. Her score of 5,482 points is the best in TTU history, surpassing the previous mark of 5,353 points that she also held. The total ranks eighth on the NCAA Division I East Outdoor Qualifying List and 21st on the NCAA Division I Combined List, and tops the OVC Outdoor Performance List by a whopping 693 points.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Khemani Roberts and Purity Sanga continued their impressive outdoor seasons for Tennessee Tech track and field, as Roberts reset her own program mark in the heptathlon, and Sanga added another No. 1 time to her Ohio Valley Conference resume on Saturday at the Virginia Challenge. Following an outstanding first day that saw her score 3,353 points over four events, Roberts responded with 2,129 points over the final three on Saturday for a new Tech record 5,482. Roberts took second place out of 17 entrants with that total, and finished just 199 points behind the winner, Jordan Gray of Kennesaw State.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Five Tennessee Tech track and field athletes will be back in action following a week off from competition, as Na’Scottisha Drummond, Khemani Roberts, Purity Sanga, Raven Smith and Ceirra Tate have all met the marks to be invited to this weekend’s Virginia Challenge. The two-day meet, which perennially hosts some of the nation’s top talent, will be held at the University of Virginia’s Lannigan Field on Friday and Saturday, April 19-20.
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – After dividing its forces for a pair of Power 5 conference meets last weekend, and seeing another program record fall courtesy of Purity Sanga, the Tennessee Tech track and field team will reunite for a single-day competition at Western Kentucky on Saturday, as they take part in the Hilltopper Relays from WKU’s Charles M. Reuter Track and Field Complex. Tech’s day will begin at 9 a.m. CT on Saturday morning when Abby Mink looks to record her first collegiate mark in the discus throw.
RALEIGH, N.C. and GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Purity Sanga added another item to her sensational 2018-19 track and field season, crushing the Tennessee Tech outdoor 10,000-meter record by 12 seconds with a time of 34-minutes, 13.02-seconds at the N.C. State Raleigh Relays. Sanga’s time bested Micayla Rennick’s previous Tech standard of 34:25.22 set at the 2018 Virginia Challenge. The sophomore from Kenya added further credence to her title as one of the best distance runners in the nation, as her mark is currently the ninth-fastest by a Division I athlete this season.
RALEIGH, N.C. and GAINESVILLE, Fla. – For the first time this season, Tennessee Tech track and field will separate its personnel to tackle two meets in the same weekend, each hosted by a Power 5-conference institution. One Golden Eagle delegation will compete Friday at the N.C. State Raleigh Relays, while the other will be bound for action on Friday and Saturday at the Pepsi Florida Relays.
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Some things change, others don’t. While the Tennessee Tech track and field team has now moved to the outdoor portion of its schedule, its trend of raking in Athlete of the Week awards from the Ohio Valley Conference has continued, as both Khemani Roberts and Purity Sanga were recognized by the league office Wednesday afternoon as Co-Field Athlete and Co-Track Athlete of the Week, respectively. The awards add to Tech’s impressive total over the 2018-19 indoor and outdoor seasons, bringing the overall count to a whopping nine over seven regular-season meets.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Ohio Valley Conference Female Indoor Track Athlete of the Year Purity Sanga got off to an excellent start to her outdoor season Friday evening, running the 1,500 meters in 4-minutes, 26.32-seconds for second place at the Vanderbilt Black and Gold Invitational. Sanga missed the overall victory by the slimmest of margins, coming in just two hundredths of a second behind Grace Jensen of Vanderbilt (4:26.30). Sanga’s mark stood out among the field of 76 runners, and was an encouraging improvement on her previous best of 4:37.93. She must cut off roughly five and a half seconds to catch Micayla Rennick’s program standard of 4:20.92.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – For the Tennessee Tech track and field team, it's on to the next one. Just over a month removed from their second straight Ohio Valley Conference indoor championship, the Golden Eagles will try to accomplish the same feat with back-to-back outdoor titles, as they begin their six-meet regular season schedule with the Vanderbilt Black and Gold Invitational on Friday and Saturday, March 22-23. The events will get started at 4 p.m. CT on Day 1, and 10 a.m. on Saturday morning from the Vanderbilt Track in Nashville.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Trailing upset-minded Murray State with three events remaining, the Tennessee Tech track and field team needed a crucial lift in crunch time to keep its hopes of a second straight Ohio Valley Conference indoor championship alive.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A tradition that the Cookeville community could get used to, Tennessee Tech women’s track & field head coach Wayne Angel was once again named the Ohio Valley Conference’s Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year following his team’s triumphant run through the 2019 OVC Indoor Track & Field Championships Wednesday and Thursday.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After the first day of action at the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, it would appear that the defending champion Tennessee Tech track and field team arrived at the Birmingham CrossPlex on a mission: to add another piece of hardware to the trophy case. Through just five scored events on Wednesday, the Golden Eagles have totaled 41 points, and hold a 10-point lead on Southeast Missouri, who currently occupies the No. 2 spot. Again, with just five events completed, Tech has already racked up three gold medals and one silver medal.
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – It’s déjà vu for Purity Sanga and the Tennessee Tech cross country/track and field program. The day before Tech took part in the Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Championships back in October, the league named Sanga its Female Cross Country Runner of the Year. Fast forward to mid-February and the eve of the OVC Indoor Track and Field Championships, and the conference office has made the same selection, recognizing Sanga as its Female Indoor Track Athlete of the Year Tuesday morning.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The time has finally come for the Tennessee Tech track and field team. The most important two days of the season are here. After winning its first ever Ohio Valley Conference indoor championship last season, which included seven individual event winners, Tech has worn the bull’s-eye on its back through the six regular-season meets of the 2018-19 campaign. Now, the time to once again prove league supremacy has arrived. On Wednesday and Thursday, inside the state-of-the-art Birmingham CrossPlex, head coach Wayne Angel’s Golden Eagles have the opportunity to become the OVC’s first repeat indoor champions since 2012.
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – For the second time this season, Lisa Wickham has been recognized as the Ohio Valley Conference Co-Female Track Athlete of the Week, as she continued her outstanding indoor season at last week’s Samford Bulldog Open. Wickham’s honor marks the fifth week in a row – Tech’s entire indoor campaign – that a Golden Eagle has won or shared an Athlete of the Week honor from the conference.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Just 11 days away from attempting to repeat as Ohio Valley Conference indoor champions, the Tennesssee Tech track and field team made the most of its final opportunity to get ready, posting high marks across the board at the Samford Bulldog Open. “We performed well this weekend,” said head coach Wayne Angel. “Overall, I thought we competed at a high level.”
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – One meet stands between the Tennessee Tech track and field team and its defense as Ohio Valley Conference indoor champions. That meet, which will feature four league opponents and be held in the same venue as the OVC showdown, is the Samford Bulldog Open. The state-of-the-art Birmingham Metro CrossPlex will be the site, offering a sneak peek of the setting for the league’s biggest battle on Feb. 20-21.
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – For the third week in a row, the Tennessee Tech track and field team has been represented in the Ohio Valley Conference’s Athlete of the Week awards, as Purity Sanga and Raven Smith each received their second league honor of the indoor season on Wednesday afternoon. Sanga earned Co-Female Track Athlete recognition after breaking her own program record in the 5,000 meters on Friday night at the Indiana Relays. She became the first Golden Eagle to complete the race in less than 17 minutes with a time of 16-minutes, 46.31-seconds.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Lisa Wickham reigned supreme in the 60 meters, Raven Smith broke the Tennessee Tech indoor triple jump record, and other Golden Eagles recorded new personal bests, as the TTU track and field team took another step forward on Saturday at the Indiana Relays. “The ladies were exceptional today,” said coach Wayne Angel. “They represented Tennessee Tech in grand style, and I am so proud of everyone. They all competed with a high level of intensity.” Wickham matched her performance from Friday, running the 60 in 7.50 seconds to claim the title. In a finals section that featured four Power 5 athletes, Wickham was head-and-shoulders above the rest, crossing the line nearly one tenth of a second before anyone else (runner-up was 7.59).
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – While it wasn’t the first time for either athlete, Khemani Roberts and Purity Sanga added their names to the Tennessee Tech record book on Friday at the Indiana Relays, establishing new program standards in the long jump and the 5,000 meters, respectively. The two performances happened in consecutive events, with Roberts’ 5.69-meter (18 feet, 8 inches) long jump coming first. Roberts’ mark eclipses Sharnique Leonce’s leap of 5.64 meters from last year’s Arkansas Tyson Invitational, which was the previous TTU best. Roberts now owns the top Tech marks for both the indoor and outdoor long jump, in addition to six other events.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – A trip across the Ohio River is next up for the Tennessee Tech track and field team, as their indoor season rolls on with another prestigious meet, the Indiana Relays, on Friday and Saturday. Indiana’s Gladstein Fieldhouse will be the site for the two-day competition, with the events starting at 4 p.m. CT on Friday, and 8 a.m. on Saturday morning.
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Lisa Wickham received Co-Female Track Athlete of the Week from the Ohio Valley Conference on Wednesday after breaking her own 60-meter school record at last weekend’s Vanderbilt Invitational. Wickham, who originally set the program mark with a time of 7.41 seconds at last year’s OVC Indoor Track and Field Championships, improved on that performance by one-hundredth of a second, clocking a 7.40 for second place at Vanderbilt.
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech track and field team has generated some early momentum in its quest to defend as indoor champions of the Ohio Valley Conference, as two athletes were recognized by the league office on Wednesday morning for their performances at the Kentucky Jim Green Invitational last weekend. Purity Sanga and Raven Smith were named Female Track Athlete of the Week and Co-Female Field Athlete of the Week, respectively.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Just like the other teams across the country competing for the first time since early December, Tennessee Tech track and field went into this weekend’s Jim Green Invitational looking to see how its athletes handled the long layoff, and where they measured up from a competitive standpoint. “I was really pleased with the meet today,” said TTU head coach Wayne Angel. “I think at this point, we're not looking at specific times or marks as much as how competitive we were in every event. We were in the mix of things for all of our events, whether it was the jumps or whatever we were doing on the track.” Purity Sanga produced one of the top highlights, coming in third place in the 3,000 meters with a career-best time of 9-minutes, 44.39 seconds. It beat her old mark of 9:54.43.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Tennessee Tech track and field team has been away from competition for six weeks after kicking off its season at the Vanderbilt Indoor Opener, but will return to action this weekend at Kentucky’s Nutter Field House for the Jim Green Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The full 2019 schedule for the defending indoor and outdoor Ohio Valley Conference champion Tennessee Tech track and field team is now set. The slate features six daunting regular-season indoor meets, five outdoor dates that should prove to be equally as challenging, as well as the information for both the indoor and outdoor OVC Championship and NCAA Championship meets.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After earning the first two Ohio Valley Conference titles in school history a season ago, fifth-year head coach Wayne Angel leads his Tennessee Tech women’s track and field team into the first stop on their journey to repeat as champions, when they take part in the Vanderbilt Indoor Opener on Saturday morning beginning at 10 a.m. Angel, a three-time OVC Coach of the Year who claimed the honor for both indoor and outdoor in 2018, saw individual conference champions crowned in eight different events last indoor season, and another seven during the outdoor campaign.