Five Cowboys qualify for NCAA Championships; Two school records fall on third day of NCAA West First Round

Wednesday, May 27

Fayetteville, AR

All Day

Oklahoma State University

NCAA West Prelims

Five Cowboys qualify for NCAA Championships; Two school records fall on third day of NCAA West First Round

May 30, 2026 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Oklahoma State men's outdoor track & field capped off the men's portion of the NCAA West First Round on Friday in Fayetteville, Ark., with five more Cowboys qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships and a pair of school records going down.

Opening up the day in the men's 3,000 Meter Steeplechase, sophomore Laban Kipkemboi qualified for his first NCAA Outdoor Championships with his time of 8:34.42 in just his first season competing in the highly technical event. Kipkemboi is the first Cowboy to qualify for NCAAs in the Steeplechase since Victor Shitsama in 2024.

True freshman Kevin Kemboi continued his sensational first season as a Cowboy, beating his own program record in the Triple Jump with a leap of 16.64 meters and placing fourth to punch his ticket to Eugene. Kemboi's jump beats his previous best of 16.63 meters at the Big 12 Championships two weeks ago. He will be looking to become OSU's first-ever first team All-American in the event.

Back on the track, junior stars Denis Kipngetich and Brian Musau each punched their tickets to NCAAs in the 5,000 Meters with their times of 13:41.75 and 13:44.78, respectively. Both men qualified by placing in the top 5 of each of their respective heats, with Kipngetich placing second in heat two and Musau placing third in heat one. Usually a 10K specialist, Kipngetich clocked the fastest final 400 meter split of the entire 48-man field at 56.86 to move from sixth to second on the final lap.

In the Cowboys' final event of the meet, the 4x400 Meter Relay quartet of Will Bynum (46.92), Mason Page (45.12), Riley McGowan (45.77) and Charlie Thorne (46.05) set a new program record by over a second with their time of 3:03.84 and became just the second squad in school history to qualify for the NCAA Championships, joining the 2024 team.

The five Cowboys that qualified Friday join Kipngetich and Adisu Guadie, who qualified Wednesday in the 10,000 Meters. Steven Schmidt had also qualified prior to the meet in the Decathlon, bringing the Cowboys' total to eight qualifiers at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

The Cowgirls are back in action tomorrow for the final day of the NCAA West First Round, starting at 2 p.m. CT with Kileigh Mixon in the High Jump. Several women will be looking to join Rachel Neaves (Hammer Throw), Burklie Burton (Hammer Throw) and Annie Molenhouse (Heptathlon), who have already qualified in their respective events.

The entirety of the NCAA West First Round is streamed live on ESPN+, with live results found here.

For more information on the Cowboys and Cowgirls, continue to check back with okstate.com.

Men's Individual Results
Discus – First Round
21. Nate Collier – 54.84 m/179'11
1,500 Meters – Quarterfinals
20. Alex Riley – 3:45.93
3,000 Meter Steeplechase – Quarterfinals
8. Laban Kipkemboi – 8:34.42 (No. 4 in program history)
Triple Jump – First Round
4. Kevin Kemboi – 16.64 m/54'7.25" (No. 1 in program history)
800 Meters – Quarterfinals
16. Hafez Mahadi – 1:47.37
5,000 Meters – Semifinals
4. Denis Kipngetich – 13:41.75
11. Brian Musau – 13:44.78
32. Will Conway – 14:18.82
37. Henry Dover – 14:25.24
4x400 Meter Relay – Quarterfinals
10. W. Bynum, M. Page, R. McGowan, C. Thorne – 3:03.84 (No. 1 in program history)

BOLD = Qualified for NCAA Championships