Leigh Daniel Blows Away the Competition Again
June 21, 1999 | Outdoor Track
April 22, 1999
PHILADELPHIA, Penn. - Texas Tech women's distance runner Leigh Daniel (Lubbock, Texas) continued her impressive outdoor season today by taking first place in the 5,000 meters at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Penn. Daniel's winning time of 16:02.42 currently stands as the nation's top collegiate time in the event and automatically qualifies her for the NCAA outdoor championships on June 2-5 in Boise, Idaho. Her mark also sets a new Texas Tech outdoor 5,000 meters record by over 40 seconds topping Mary Medina's 16:43.35 set in 1986.
Currently, Daniel hold's the nations top collegiate times in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. She ran a time of 32:53.95 in the 10,000 meters at the Stanford Invitational on March 27. For the season, Daniel has qualified automatically in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters and provisionally in the 1,500 meters for the NCAA outdoor championships.
Daniel became Texas Tech's first-ever individual national champion when she captured the 5,000 meter championship during the indoor season.
She is expected to race again in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the Big 12 outdoor championships on May 21-23 in Waco, Texas.