Kirwa, Sudbury Earn USTFCCCA Regional Awards

AMES, Iowa – Mercyline Kirwa was named the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year while Jeremy Sudbury earned Midwest Region Women's Coach of the Year, announced by the organization Thursday.

Kirwa took the national 10,000m title and was the 5,000m runner-up at NCAA Championships, combining for 18 points. The 18 points tied for the most individual points by any woman at the championship.

In both races at nationals, Kirwa topped two-time NCAA champions and Bowerman Award nominees New Mexico's Pamela Kosgei and BYU's Jane Hedengren. Kirwa clocked 31:54.88 for the 10k title and ran an outdoor 5k personal record of 15:13.72 for the national runner-up finish and now ranks third on Iowa State's elite top 10 list.

At Big 12 Outdoor Championships, Kirwa took the 10,000m title. The freshman is now a three-time All-American and two-time Big 12 champ.

Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Sudbury earns the honor after leading Iowa State to the best team finish at any NCAA Championship in program history as the Cyclones placed sixth with 30 points. It was the first top 10 team finish outdoors since 2010 and the fifth top 10 finish overall through indoor and outdoor championships.

Sudbury guided Kirwa and Betty Kipkore to First Team All-America in both the 5,000m and 10,000m. The duo accounted for 28 team points at outdoor nationals. Kirwa and Kipkore both rank top four all-time at Iowa State in the 5k and 10k.

This is Sudbury's third USTFCCCA Regional Coach of the Year honor as the coach earned the award after the 2024 and 2021 cross country seasons.