Faith Linga, a freshman from Nairobi, Kenya, won the individual title at the NJCAA Division I Championships by 13 seconds with a 19:49 time for the 5K distance. That marked the second-fastest time by an individual champion in meet history. The victory also avenged her only loss to a fellow JUCO runner this year when she was runner-up at the Region XI Championships. Linga also won individual titles at the Fort Hays State Tiger Open, Briar Cliff Invitational and Woody Greeno/Jay Dirksen Invitational this season. Linga was named USTFCCCA national runner of the week 3 times this season prior to this award.