UNC cross country runner Regina Mpigachai was named the Big Sky Conference cross country athlete of the week Tuesday, the conference office announced.

In her season debut, Mpigachai won the 5-kilometer race Sept. 20 at the Woody Greeno/Dirksen Invitational hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan and the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska. Mpigachai’s time was 17-minutes, 8.94 seconds, which was 30 seconds faster than the second-place runner, Lucy Ndungu of Wichita State (17:42.37).

The UNC women finished sixth as a team. Other schools at the meet included Air Force and Missouri.

Last year, Mpigachai became the first UNC athlete to qualify for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. She finished 85th in a 254 women’s field at the University of Wisconsin Madison.

“We are so proud

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