TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Cailen Jolley and Sharon Koima from Oklahoma City University seek to take acclaim in the NAIA women's cross country championships Friday at Apalachee Regional Park.  

Koima and Jolley are coming off top-five finishes in the Sooner Athletic Conference Championships at Eldon Lyon Park on Nov. 5, when OCU captured its eighth consecutive SAC championship. The 5,000-meter race will be run 8:30 a.m. CST (9:30 a.m. EST) Friday. 

The Stars have had a solid outing so far this year with a runner-up finish in the Missouri Southern Stampede. Koima, the senior from Eldoret, Kenya, took the top spot for OCU in third. Koima also finished in the top spot for the Stars in Chile Pepper Festival. OCU took third as a team in the NAIA Mid-States Classic with Koima topping Stars at 13th.  

The finish of second and her mark of 18 minutes, 56.2 seconds in the conference meet for Jolley, the junior from Pauls Valley, Okla., were the best individual performances in her OCU career. Koimas' third-place finish is also her best as she has finished third four times in her OCU career.  

OCU looks to do better than their third-place finish in 2017. Last year, the Stars finished 12th with Koima finishing in a time of 19-minute, 6.5-second effort in the NAIA Championships. The Stars bring back Ginger-Macinnis Pierce, a sophomore from Oklahoma City, who finished fifth in the SAC Championships. Florencia Cabrera, Kaitlyn Heffernan and Erika Pena also took all-conference accolades.

Stars cross country, track and field coach, Frezer Legesse, talks up the excitement he and his team have ahead of the NAIA Championships, "We're very excited. Our focus has been centered on the national meet, and I expect our best performance going out there into Tallahassee."