Sanga becomes first athlete in OVC history to win four straight Runner of the Week awards
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – It has been an incredible run to start the cross country season for Tennessee Tech’s Purity Sanga, and with her latest accomplishments, she has earned Ohio Valley Conference Female Runner of the Week for the fourth week in a row, a first in the history of OVC cross country.
By Nate Perry, TTU Sports Information
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – It has been an incredible run to start the cross country season for Tennessee Tech's Purity Sanga, and with her latest accomplishments, she has earned Ohio Valley Conference Female Runner of the Week for the fourth week in a row, a first in the history of OVC cross country.
In addition to earning a place in league history, Sanga has ended the discussion regarding Tech's all-time best female runner, as she is now responsible for the top three marks in the school record book, and is separated from all other names by more than 48 seconds.
One week after smashing the old program record by 39 seconds with a time of 16-minutes, 41.58-seconds at the Mountain Dew Invitational, the Kapsabet, Kenya native shaved another fraction of a second off the top mark, clocking a 16:41.3 at the Greater Louisville Classic this past weekend.
Sanga was the first Golden Eagle across the finish line at the Greater Louisville, which extends her streak of meets as TTU's leader to nine, the entirety of her regular-season career in the purple and gold.
The sophomore took third place overall in the race, giving her four consecutive top-three finishes to start the season. It was also the eighth time Sanga has come in amongst the top eight finishers at a meet.
In the process, Sanga was the highest individual finisher from any of the six OVC schools in attendance, and was more than 25 seconds better than the league's No. 2, Gladys Cheruiyot of Eastern Kentucky.
Sanga will look to continue her remarkable 2018 campaign on October 12, when the Golden Eagles head to Tallahassee, Fla for the FSU Invitational.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
