Born in Rift Valley Province and raised in Keringet, she attended Keringet Winners Girls High School and began training as a steeplechase specialist under her coach Charles Ng'eno. She quickly established herself among the world's best young steeplechasers by running a time of 6:12.0 minutes for the 2000 metres steeplechase in Nairobi in 2013, moving up to third on the all-time lists for the event. She won the gold medal in that event at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics, running 6:14.60 minutes (the fourth fastest time ever) to defeat her compatriot Daisy Jepkemei. It was her second gold medal for Kenya that year, as she was a team winner at the 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where she placed seventh individually at age fifteen. A fourth-place finish in the junior race at the 2014 African Cross Country Championships brought her another team gold.