Exciting and dramatic track and field action kicked off the first day of the 2017 NJCAA indoor championships.

The No. 1 ranked New Mexico Junior College women won the first final of the day with a thrilling finish.

The distance medley relay was anchored by Esther Gitahi, who proved why she is one of the fastest NJCAA athletes of today. Gitahi received the baton nearly 15 seconds behind the leaders from Cowley County. The quartet from South Plains moved up to race Cowley, but the two-team battle did not last long. Gitahi caught the leaders on the final lap, and it was one of the most thrilling finishes in NJCAA history. New Mexico won in 12:06.93, with Cowley earning runner-up in 12:07.04 and South Plains third in 12:08.72.

Watch Ester Gitahi pull off the EPIC victory in the DMR:


Gitahi contributed another 10 points to NMJC's team score with an easy win (10:11) in the women's 3000m, and the Thunderbirds got eight points from Latavia Coombs' runner-up finish in the pentathlon. The Thunderbirds have several finalists in the 60m, 400m, as well as the top NJCAA athlete, Krystal Sparling, in the 200m final tomorrow. 

Speed was the name of the game during the men's action. Central Arizona's Gilbert Kigen won his seventh and eighth NJCAA titles in the 5000m and 3000m. The sophomore first took the 5000m with a 14:13.54 win over Iowa Central's Karim Achengli. Kigen took a conservative approach at the beginning of the race, but ramped up the pace throughout and ran his final 400m in roughly 60 seconds. He followed essentially the same race plan in the 3000m, and Achengli was the aggressor this time, trying to throw off Kigen with rapid surges in the final stages of the race. Kigen proved too much and split 59 seconds (unofficially) in the final 400m to clinch the win in 8:20.32

Kigen apparently hangs out with Lawi Lalang and will be a welcome addition at any NCAA program after his time at Central Arizona.

Watch Gilbert Kigen dominate the 5K to win his 7th NCAA title:


The sprinters from Hinds Community College impressed in their respective prelims. Defending champion Keitavious Walter ran 6.62 in the 60m, inching closer to his 6.59 personal best. He followed up with a 20.91 indoor personal best to win his 200m prelim. Teammate Tyler Terry ran 46.49 to win his 400m round, smashing his PB by over a half a second, and fellow Hinds teammate and Olympic Trials qualifier Correion Mosby (who famously ran in the same lane as another competitor at the outdoor championships) easily won his 200m prelim in 21.01. Watch out for Butler's Andre Ewers. He ran an impressive 20.93 to potentially throw a wrench in Hinds' plans of dominating the 200m finals tomorrow.

Watch Tyler Terry run 46.49 in his prelim:


The NJCAA indoor championships conclude on Saturday, March 4 beginning at 12:30PM CT. The second day of the heptathlon begins at 10:00AM CT.