sports Six OSU athletes earn All-American honors at NCAA Outdoor

Braden Bush Sports Editor

Two Cowgirls placed in the top five at the NCAA Outdoor Championships this weekend, leading OSU to a top-25 finish.

Gabija Galvydyte, in the 800 Meters, and Billah Jepkirui, in the 1,500 Meters, earned AllAmerican honors. Their combined 12 points from their respective events earned the Cowgirls a tie for 22nd, marking the 10th time OSU has finished in the top 25.

Galvydyte gained two spots in the final 200 meters on Saturday, pushing her into second place with a 2:00.47. She bested her third-place finish last season and earned first-team All-American honors for the third time.

Jepkirui ran a 4:10.17, which placed fifth and places her third on the all-time leaderboard at OSU. Jepkirui, a freshman, ends the year as a two-time All-American from indoor and outdoor track, and she’s the first OSU All-American in the 1,500 Meters since 2019.

Both Galvydyte and Jepkirui also claimed Big 12 titles in their events in May.

Meanwhile, the Cowboy track & field team wrapped up its season Friday in a tie for 27th place with all four qualifiers garnering All-American honors throughout the week.

On Wednesday, Isai Rodriguez finished fifth in the 10,000 Meters, ending his Cowboy career as an outdoor All-American. He ran a seasonbest time of 28:15.48 after leading for much of the race and being the intermediate leader for 10-straight splits in the middle portion of the race.

Victor Shitsama was 8:36.79 in the 3,000 Meter Steeplechase, finishing seventh. Shitsama was an honorable mention in 2021, but he earned first-team All-American for the first time in outdoor. That concludes a season for Shitsama that also saw him win the Big 12 title in the same event.

Medhi Yanouri, the Big 12 runner-up in the 800 Meters, finished sixth in the same event with a 1:46.50. The time is a school record and the fourth time he’s broken the record this season.

Fouad Messaoudi was second-team All-American in the 1,500 Meters, running a 3:44.41.

sports.ed@ocolly.com