Former Lumberjack Lopez Lomong Wins 10K Title at USATF Championships

DES MOINES, Iowa - Lopez Lomong, one of the most decorated Northern Arizona University athletes in school history, won the men's 10,000-meter title at the 2018 USATF Outdoor National Championships at Drake Stadium on Thursday evening.

With the victory the former Lumberjack became the first American male athlete in 102 years to win both the 1500-meter and 10,000-meter US titles in his career. The last to do so was Joie Ray of Illinois AC who accomplished the feat in 1915-1916.

Lomong posted a time of 28:58 with a 54-second last lap to come from behind to outkick Nike opponent Shadrack Kipchirchir. The title was Lomong's first since 2010.

"I'm really blessed. I'm so happy," Lomong told LetsRun.com after the race. "The thing is it's been a while. I've been battling a lot of injuries the last three years but this year has been perfect. Training has been amazing and everything has been clicking really well."

"I run for joy now. I run for this great nation," Lomong added. "My strength brought me to where I am today and every time I put my shoes on to go for a run I'm not running anymore from people trying to harm me. I'm running for joy, I'm running for this great nation and I'm running for a purpose. I'm happy to still have this opportunity and platform to continue running and hopefully represent this nation."

The race started off slow but eventually started to separate. With four laps remaining the lead group consisted of just six athletes. Lomong stayed patience and once the final bell rang him and Kipchirchir took off. Lomong blew past him on the final straight to claim the championship.

Lomong, a 2013 NAU Athletics Hall of Fame inductee and two-time Olympian, was a two-time Division I Champion (3000-meter indoor/1500-meter outdoor) during his time at Northern Arizona.

NAU's own Jasmine Malone and Nicole Fotinos also competed on the opening day of nationals with Malone advancing to the 400-meter dash semifinals on Friday and Fotinos wrapping up her Lumberjack career as one of the best sprinters in the nation with a 19th-place finish in the same event.

Another former Lumberjack, Rochelle Kanuho, took sixth overall in the women's 10,000-meter race (32:19.49).