Johnson City, TN — Goshen sophomore
Petrana Petkova raced to a second-place finish in the women’s
5,000-meter run at the NAIA Indoor National Championships on Saturday
at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City,
Tennessee, giving the Goshen track and field program its
highest placed indoor finish in school history. Petkova’s
runner-up time of 17:23.49 broke her previous school record of
17:53.63 and also unofficially established a new Bulgarian
indoor women’s national record in the event. It was also
five seconds off of the NAIA previous meet record, giving Petkova
the fastest recorded time in the 5,000 in NAIA national championship
history. Unfortunately, Petkova’s clip was overshadowed by
defending champion Miriam Kaumba from Oklahoma Baptist University,
as her winning time of 16:20.97 shattered the previous standard
of 17:18.17.
Kaumba broke away from the rest of the field early in the race
and Petkova found herself racing in a pack of five other athletes
for the runner-up spot. Petkova continued to respond to surges
made by various runners in this group during the race until she
made a decisive move with 400 meters remaining and created a widening
gap as she dashed for the finish line. Her second-place finish
made her the fourth Goshen track and field athlete to earn
All-American status in an indoor championship and is the highest
placed finish indoors ever for a Maple Leaf athlete.
“Petrana handled the racing situation in the championships
in an excellent fashion,” said Goshen head coach Rick Clark. “She
ran a controlled race on Friday to earn her spot into Saturday’s
finals and then responded to every tactical move in the final race
that was made by the pack she was in. She ran a race that would
have won the event in most years but Kaumba is an exceptional athlete
who plans to turn professional after graduating. We are very proud
to have Petrana wear a Maple Leaf jersey.”
Petkova was the only Goshen female athlete participating
at the event. The Leafs’ women’s team finished in 22nd
place in the team competition based on Petkova’s finish.
Oklahoma Baptist won the women’s team title. For a
complete list of individual and team performances at the championship
event,
click here.
Goshen will now train for a few weeks in preparation for the outdoor
season, which will begin on Mar. 19 at the Polar Bear Invite. That
meet will take place on the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University
in Marion, Indiana.
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  Sophomore
Petrana Petkova
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