Oklahoma State men’s and women’s outdoor track and field began the Big 12 Outdoor Championships on May 15 in Tucson, Arizona, with Cowgirl freshman Burklie Burton winning her first career Big 12 title in the Hammer Throw. Burton achieved a personal-best throw of 67.99 meters, moving her to second on the program’s all-time list and ninth nationally this year. She becomes only the second Cowgirl in program history to win a Big 12 championship in this event.
The significance of Burton’s win is underscored by Oklahoma State securing three of the top four places in the Hammer Throw. Senior Rachel Neaves finished third with a throw of 63.90 meters, while freshman Rylee Jenkins placed fourth at 62.02 meters. Sutton Howard also reached the final and placed ninth overall with a personal-best throw of 57.34 meters.
These results gave Oklahoma State women’s team a total of 21 points from the event, marking two consecutive years they have scored most points in this discipline at the conference meet.
On the track, Laban Kipkemboi led qualifying for Saturday’s men’s 1,500-meter final with a time of 3:45.08; teammates Oliver Patton and Alex Riley also advanced to that final round. Billah Jepkirui qualified for Saturday’s women’s final after running one of Thursday’s fastest times (4:16.44), aiming for her third Big 12 title this year.
In other events, Denis Kipngetich finished second in the men’s 10,000 meters (29:23.30), earning All-Big-12 honors for his third straight year and his second such honor specifically in this race distance.
The Cowboys’ Steven Schmidt leads after five events in men’s Decathlon with strong performances including first-place finishes in High Jump and Shot Put along with several personal bests on day one; Annie Molenhouse sits third overall after four Heptathlon events among women competitors.
