OSU earns Top 10 finishes for first time in program history at NCAA Championships
BOSTON — The Oklahoma State indoor track teams wrapped up action at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a pair of top-10 finishes for the first time in program history, highlighted by secondand third-place finishes individually by Billah Jepkirui and Alex Maier.
BOSTON — The Oklahoma State indoor track teams wrapped up action at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a pair of top-10 finishes for the first time in program history, highlighted by secondand third-place finishes individually by Billah Jepkirui and Alex Maier.
The Cowboys kicked things off with a hot start in the men’s 3,000-meters run, with Maier earning his second All-America honor of the weekend with his third-place time of 7:44.68. His time was under the previous championship record and came a night after he finished sixth in the 5,000-meter run.
OSU went 3-for-3 in the scoring column in the men’s 3K, with Brian Musau and Ryan Schoppe doubling back from their national championship-winning DMR performance from the night before. Musau claimed sixth overall and Schoppe took home eighth after leading for a good portion of the race early on.
The trio’s 10 combined points in the 3K brought OSU’s total to 23 on the weekend, which earned them the program’s sixth top-10 team performance at the national meet. It was also the Cowboys’ second straight top 10 after placing sixth overall at last year’s national championships.
On the women’s side, Jepkirui led off with an incredible performance in the women’s mile, placing second overall with her time of 4:27.14, which shatters the previous school record and is the sixth-fastest mark in NCAA history. Her time was also under the previous championship record.
In the women’s 800-meter run, Gabija Galvydyte earned her first-ever indoor All-America honor after two highlysuccessful seasons outdoors. Galvydyte placed fifth overall with her time of 2:02.31 after starting off in the back and working her way up through the field on the final lap. She will now look for her first individual national title after placing third in 2022 and second in 2023 at the last two NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Winny Bii wrapped up the scoring for the Cowgirls on the weekend in her first appearance at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a seventh-place finish in the triple jump. The freshman concludes an incredible indoor season that included a Big 12 title and a national record in the triple jump.
On the back of several high-scoring performances, the Cowgirls seemed destined for their first-ever trophy in track with two events remaining. However, disaster struck in the women’s 3,000-meter run when 5K runner-up Taylor Roe was shoved from behind and knocked out of the race prematurely.
