Idaho cross-country alumna Kinsey (Gomez) Middleton is set to compete for Canada in the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Half Marathon Championships Saturday in Valencia, Spain. 
Middleton is one of the eight athletes, four men and four women, chosen by Athletics Canada to compete in the race. She qualified for her first IAAF World Championship event after the Houston Half Marathon with a personal-best time of 1:12.30. Middleton was the third fastest woman and had the ninth fastest time ever by a Canadian.
Middleton competed for Idaho for one season in both cross country and track and field. She had a successful career in her one season, finishing as Idaho’s top athlete in every meet she competed in and no lower than third place in a meet before the NCAA Championships.
She took the victory in the 5000-meter race at the Big Sky Indoor Championships in 2016 and took second in the 1500-meter race in the Big Sky Outdoor Championships in 2016.
Middleton’s name is on a number of charts in the Idaho cross-country records book. She holds the fourth fastest time in program history in the 1500-meters with a time of 4:22.10. She also holds the third fastest time in the 5000 meters with a time of 16:11.17.
Middleton capped her career at Idaho with a trip to the NCAAs where she competed in the 10,000-meter race and finished overall 10th in the championship round, earning Second Team All-America accolades. Her time of 33:18.00 is the fastest in Idaho history.
Middleton left the program as one of the top distance runners in Idaho history and still carries on her running career. She still trains with current Idaho Distance and Cross-Country Coach Travis Floeck and continues to improve her times in various distance events.
Meredith Spelbring can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @mere0415