KINGSVILLE, Texas Senior Leakey Kipkosgei earned his second national championship and the third in the history of American International College by winning the steeplechase at the 2019 NCAA Division II National Outdoor Track and Field Championship on Friday, May 24.

FAST FACTS:
NCAA DII Outdoor National Championship
Where:Javelina Stadium Kingsville, Texas
When:Thursday, May 23 Saturday, May 25

RESULTS:
Day 1:
Steeplechase prelims:Leakey Kipkosgei(first, 9:07.54)
400-meter hurdles prelims:Chad Miller(fourth, 52.32 seconds)

Day 2:
Steeplechase finals:Leakey Kipkosgei(first, 8:52.86)
800-meter prelims:Yasmine Graziani (19^th, 2:25.97)

BUZZWORTHY:
Day 1:

• Kipkosgei'stime of 9:07.54 in the prelims was roughly two seconds faster than his gold medal run at the Northeast-10 Outdoor Championship back on May 3. He entered the finals with the best time of the two prelims by almost five seconds.
• Last season, Gatien Airiau of the Academy of Art won the steeplechase with a time of 8:47.99. Kipkosgei's fastest time this season came at the Penn Relays when he finished in 8:44.13.
• SeniorChad Miller'stime of 52.32 seconds is just .26 seconds behind his NE10 Championship winning time. Miller was just .18 seconds behind the leader of the prelims.
• Last year at the Outdoor National Championship, Miller ran 49.72, a school record, as he finished in second place.

Day 2:

• Kipkosgei'snational title is the second of his career. His title is just the third in school history, all of which belong to the men's track and field program. The first came in 2012 when Dominic Smith won the 400-meters. In 2016, Chandler Cotton Jr, Kemani Hume, Kipkosgei, and Miller took home the gold in the distance medley relay.
• With his finish in the steeplechase on May 24, Kipkosgei earned his 10^th All-American honor between cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track.
• Senior Yasmine Graziani was the first women's runner to qualify for the national meet since Tonique Sobah and Shaina Blamahsah did so in 2015 in the 100-meter hurdles and 100-meter dash.

NEXT UP:

• On Saturday, May 25, juniorDahsia Middlebrookswill compete in the triple jump, which starts at 6:45 p.m.
• On Saturday, May 25, Miller will look to improve his second-place finish from last season.

STAY CONNECTED:

• For more updates about the AIC track and field team, follow@AICtrackonTwitterand@aic_trackandfieldonInstagram. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow@AICAthleticsonTwitterandInstagram, and likeAIC Yellow JacketsonFacebook.