The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Kirk Geared Up For NCAA Championships
6/10/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
June 10, 2014
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The emergence of UAB’s Elinor Kirk to national prominence in the world of track and field is something even she admits she didn’t see coming. But, Kirk has made it to the top and will look to wrap up her Blazer career in grand fashion at this week’s NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore.
“When I first came to UAB, if someone would have told me that two years down the road I’d be competing at this level, I probably would have laughed and not really believed them,” Kirk said. “It makes me really grateful to have had the opportunity to come to UAB and train with a great group of girls and have Tony (Houchin) as a great coach.”
Kirk’s collegiate track career ends this weekend, as does her time in Birmingham in UAB’s graduate school. The Swansea, Wales native, originally recruited to UNLV by assistant coach Houchin, began medical school in England and found an interim home in UAB’s communications graduate studies department. After she goes for two national titles this weekend, she will return home to Wales and finish out her medical degree.
Already an All-American and UAB’s most decorated track runner in the program’s history, Kirk is headed back to the NCAA Championships for the second year in a row to compete in the 5,000-meter finals and 10,000-meter finals.
“Last year was a great experience,” Kirk said. “The race didn’t go as well as I wanted, but just running with some great girls and seeing how it’s all set up is good preparation for this week’s race. I know what to expect this time around.”
Her road to this point has been record-breaking and very successful while on the course as a Blazer.
She holds a combined six UAB records in track and field, including three outdoor marks in the 1,500-meter, 5K and 10K runs. She won the 1,500 and 5,000 at the Conference USA Outdoor Championships, becoming the first C-USA athlete to double in those events since 2005, and did both in record-breaking fashion. Kirk broke the 16-year-old C-USA mark in the 1,500 and won the 5K by more than 34 seconds.
She enters the 10K with the nation’s fastest time – a 32:17.05 that she ran at the Stanford Invite on April 4. She also has the 11th-best time in the NCAA in the 5K, a 15:42.13, which she ran at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 17.
Kirk won the 5K at the NCAA East Prelims in Jacksonville, Fla. two weekends ago, qualifying for both it and the 10K to advance to Eugene for the second-straight year. She enters the week with the top seeded time of 15:53.93, which won her the 5K, a time that is two seconds faster than any other qualifying time in the race.
She ran a 33:55.60 in the 10K at the prelims, which is the ninth-fastest seeded time of the 24 runners who qualified for the finals in the 10K.
Kirk will run for the title in the 10K on Thursday at 7:15 p.m. PT/9:15 p.m. CT. Following an off day on Friday, she will then run for the championship in the 5K at 3:24 p.m. PT/5:24 p.m. CT on Saturday.
“I’m just going to focus on the 10K initially,” Kirk said. “I’ll give it everything I have in that one and hopefully recover well in the day after and see what I’ve got left in the 5K. I think there’s quite a few girls doing the double, so I won’t be alone.”
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