By: Jason Ferro
JOPLIN, MO. -
Khot Juac concluded her second trip to the NCAA Championships with a 5th place finish today at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course. Her performance is the highest finish at the National Championships for any USF runner from either the Men's or Women's teams.
After becoming USF's first Women's Cross Country runner to qualify for the NCAA Championships last year, Khot followed it up with a return trip this year. She finished 5th while boasting All-American honors behind a time of exactly 20 minutes (20:00.0) and edging out 6th place by just 00:00.1 seconds.
Before the event, Khot's own final time and placement from 2022 stood as the lone USF record for those categories at the NCAA Championships. With her finish today she sets a new program best in those categories and an even higher bar for any Cougar who qualifies for the event in the future. She improved upon her 2022 Nationals performance by 43 places and nearly 90 seconds. The Regional Championships took place at the same location for Khot just two weeks ago, her time today improved by over 26 seconds from that event. Only one other NSIC runner finished ahead of her.
"Khot ran a very smart race. She had a strong start and moved up throughout the race! We're incredibly proud of her and the season she had. Fifth in the nation is a testament to her work ethic and determination!" - Head Coach Doug Peteresen
During the 2022 NCAA Championships Khot finished 48th with a time of 21:28.50 and was just 8 seconds out from All-American Honors. This season Khot competed in 6 events prior to the NCAA Championships. She opened the season at the Augie Twilight where she placed 2nd and received NSIC Athlete of the Week honors. At the Sunflower Open she cruised to the title and a team victory which she followed with a 5th place finish out of 391 runners at the Roy Griak Invitational. Her regular season concluded with another title as she posted a 20:54.50 at the Briar Cliff Invite. Juac then placed 3rd at the NSIC Championships with a time of 20:37.80. To cement her second trip to the NCAA Championships she headed to Joplin to compete in the Regional Championships at the eventual National Championship site. There she placed 2nd and led the Cougars to the best team placement in program history at the event (8th) while crossing the finish line in 20:26.03.
Khot will be back in action this winter as she transitions to the indoor track & field season for the Cougars.
