Lokedi named Big 12 Outdoor Track Performer of the Year

IRVING, Texas – Kansas junior Sharon Lokedi was named the Big 12 Outstanding Female Performer of the Year it was announced by the league office Thursday. The honor marked the first yearly conference award of Lokedi and the third Outstanding Performer honor claimed by a Jayhawk after Paris Daniels garnered the award in 2013 and Candace Mason did so in 1998.
 
This past weekend at the Big 12 Championship, Lokedi ran to victory in both the 5,000 meters and the 10,000 meters, making her just the seventh female in the league’s history to win both events at a single meet. Lokedi was her team’s high-point scorer, recording 20 of the Jayhawks’ 84 points. The 20-point effort marked the third-most ever posted by a Jayhawk female at a Big 12 meet.
 
During the outdoor season, Lokedi posted times in both the 5,000 meters and the 10,000 meters that ranked her among the top-35 in the NCAA in both events. At the Cardinal Classic on April 21, she broke the Kansas 5,000-meter record in a time of 16:00.60, marking the third school record she has claimed in her three-year Jayhawk career. Lokedi opened her year with a 33:37.01 clocking in the 10,000 meters at the Stanford Invitational, the third-fastest 10K in school history and the No. 14 time in the NCAA DI ranks this year.
 
Lokedi will look to continue her march to the NCAA Championships in June when she competes at the NCAA West Preliminary in Austin, Texas next weekend. She will compete in the 10,000 meters set for 9 p.m., Thursday, May 25. Last year, Lokedi claimed a sixth-place finish in the event at the NCAA Championships and garnered First Team All-America status for the second time among her indoor and outdoor track & field careers.
 
 
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