Sally Kipyego, one of the greatest women’s distance runners in NCAA history, has moved to Eugene and joined Oregon Track Club Elite.

The 23-year-old Kipyego finished her collegiate career at Texas Tech last March with nine individual NCAA championships. She is tied with Wisconsin’s Suzy Favor Hamilton for the most individual titles in NCAA history.

“This seemed like a great place for me to begin my professional career,” said Kipyego, a native of Kenya. “I like the coach and it’s such a good training group. That was a big part of my motivation.”

Kipyego first visited Eugene last June when she placed fourth in the 2,000 meters at the 2009 Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field. Kipyego, who has a degree in nursing, said she would probably focus on the 5,000 meters on the track, with the addition of a few 1,500 races. Her main training partner will be OTC Elite’s Lauren Fleshman.

“I’m putting my nursing degree on hold for right now,” she said. “I’m fully concentrating on running at this time.”

Kipyego dominated the cross country scene with three consecutive NCAA titles in 2006, ’07 and ’08. She also won three straight indoor track crowns in the 5,000 (2007, ’08 and ’09), plus national outdoor titles in the 10,000 (2007) and 5,000 (2008) and an indoor crown in the 3,000 (2007).

Although the OTC Elite roster is still being finalized for the upcoming indoor and outdoor season, Kipyego is one of five notable newcomers.

She joins Michigan’s Geena Gall (800), Dartmouth’s Ben True (1,500), Northern Iowa’s Tyler Mulder (800) and Texas’ Jake Morse (steeplechase).