NEW ORLEANS -- Wichita State cross country student-athlete Aliphine Tuliamuk has been named the U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association Midwest Region Women's Athlete of the Year, as voted by NCAA Division I coaches, the USTFCCCA announced Wednesday.

Tuliamuk, a junior from Kapenguria, Kenya, won the NCAA Midwest Regional women's 6,000-meter race in 20:40.68 Nov. 12. The regional win marked Tuliamuk's fourth first-place finish of the season. The 2011 Missouri Valley Conference champion has competed in six total races this season and has never finished below second place.

She will represent Wichita State in the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships Monday, Nov. 21 at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind. The women's race will begin at approximately 11:58 a.m. Central time. A live webcast of the championships will be broadcast from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.

Past recent winners of the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Women's Athlete of the Year award include Minnesota's Stephanie Price in 2010, Illinois' Angela Bizzarri in 2009, Iowa's Racheal Marchand in 2008 and Diane Nukuri in 2007.

Click here to view the full USTFCCCA release.