GREENSBORO, N.C. – Senior distance runner Cynthia Chelelgo was one of many who helped the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) Women’s Track team repeat as Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Outdoor Champions on May 7, but her individual efforts stood out nonetheless as her career in the Orange and Green wound down.
A native of Eldoret, Kenya, Chelelgo is a member of the Kenyan Contingent that has been pivotal in the resurgence of the FAMU Women’s Track program under the direction of Coach Darlene Moore, Ed.D.
Chelelgo has been a clutch performer for the FAMU Women’s Cross Country team that has won the last four MEAC Championships (2012-15), leading the way impressively this past fall, finishing first at the MEAC championship meet to win MEAC Outstanding Female Performer honors.
She and her Kenyan teammates: senior Effiey Kosgei, sophomore Judith Kibii, and freshmen twins, Caroline and Emmaculate Kiplagat, have combined with American natives and juniors QuanDra Shanks, Nicole Kvitkauskas, and sophomore Fridah Limo, to make FAMU almost unstoppable in the distance events.
In the MEAC Indoor Championships in February, Chelelgo won the 3000 meter steeplechase to help FAMU finish second overall to Hampton University.
Chelelgo and her distance mates will always be remembered for their gutsy performance in the 2015 MEAC Outdoor meet, as she won the 5,000 meter run and three other Lady Rattlers finished in the top eight in the next to last event, to push FAMU past the then three-time defending Outdoor champion Hampton Lady Pirates, 111 to 105 in the final standings.
This year’s championship run saw FAMU lead from Day One until the end, although the ladies from Hampton, led by their US Olympic hopeful Ce’aira Brown rallied in Saturday’s final round, scoring 93 points to finish second with 139 points to the Lady Rattlers’ 164.
The key to the 2016 title was the same as the 2015 win, the 5,000 meter run, where FAMU clinched the title scoring 18 points by taking the top two spots, as Cynthia Chelelgo and Judith Kibii finished 1-2, beating the third place finisher by nearly 10 seconds.
Chelelgo set a new MEAC standard on opening day, winning the inaugural 10,000 meter run, vanquishing Hampton’s Brown, who finished second, setting the tone for the rest of the meet.
But Chelelgo, who matured and took the lead role for the Cross Country team the past two years will be sorely missed, but never forgotten.