Tiger track and field teams place in the top-20 at national championships

The Lady Tigers (17 points) finished in a tie for 16^th place with Mesa Community College, while the Tiger men (11 points) finished in a tie for 20^th with North Iowa Area Community College.

"We had some really great efforts and some narrow misses of getting into the finals or getting on the podium," Cowley head coach Cameron Rieth said. "We had several people just miss getting into the finals by fractions of a second or inches, or a tie breaker that didn't go our way. However, most of them, if not all, outperformed their ranking coming in. Hats off to giving our best in not-so-great conditions."

In a meet that came down to the final event, New Mexico Junior College finished as the 2026 NJCAA Division I Women's Track & Field National Champions. This would be the Thunderbirds' sixth national championship in program history, and third in the last four seasons. New Mexico's 107.5 points were a meet high, narrowly edging out Iowa Western, which finished the meet with 107. Barton (KS) finished the meet in third place with 78 points.

After tying South Plains (TX) in 2023, New Mexico Junior College was able to win its first outright national championship at the 2026 NJCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championship. The Thunderbirds scored 97 points in the meet, narrowly holding off the surging defending champions South Plains, who finished the meet with 93 points. Iowa Central finished in third place with 72 points. Indian Hills (IA) and Barton (KS) rounded out the top five.

Having already won an individual national championship during the cross country season, Boisseau added to his incredible career by winning the national title in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:17.97). The top-three finishers in the event were from Region VI.

"It was hot and windy, and the runner from Butler took off fast before hitting a wall with about 200 meters to go," Rieth said. "Esteban smelled blood in the water and ran him down. We had some things go our way, but it was still an incredible effort by Esteban."

Boisseau became the 40^th individual national champion in program history and the second Tiger to win the steeplechase, and first since Daniel Maina won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.

Freshman Nash Young also performed well, earning Coaches Association All-American honors by placing eighth in the decathlon and winning the 1,500-meter portion of the decathlon.

"Nash willed himself onto the podium, going from 10th to 8th on the final event (1500m) of the decathlon," Rieth said. "Nash is never short on effort. That was incredible."

The Lady Tigers were led by All-American performances from freshmen pole vaulters Ke'Mauria Burnham and Aaliyah Treat. Burnham finished as the national runner-up (12-4), and Treat (12-4) placed third in the pole vault.

The Lady Tigers also earned three team points from their 4x800-meter relay, which placed sixth and earned Coaches Association All-American honors.

Burnham and Treat finished amazing freshmen seasons, with Treat finishing as the indoor national champion in the pole vault, to go along with a top-three national finish in the event during the outdoor season. Burnham broke the school's pole vault record during the outdoor season and was the national runner-up in the event at the indoor and outdoor national championships.

"Our women's pole vault squad had a solid showing," Rieth said. "Both Ke'Mauria and Aaliyah gave fantastic efforts, and Ariana (Gomez) also had a great showing, tying for eighth, before losing in a tiebreaker to finish ninth.

The Tiger outdoor track and field teams were a young and talented group.

"Getting them to the national meet so they can get that feeling and experience of what it's like was a major goal for us this year," Rieth said. "We are all proud of not only our freshmen's effort, but also the time and effort from our sophomores. We look to continue building for next year."

Results:

WOMEN

*Pole vault – Ke'Mauria Burnham, 12-4, national runner-up; Aaliyah Treat, 12-4, third place; Ariana Gomez, 10-10 ¼, ninth.

*Hammer – Elyce Roglin, 155-5, 14^th; Mayce McDonald, 144-0, 18^th; Katie Cook, 140-0, 21^st.

*4x800-meter relay – Cowley (Linda Filipova, Zuzana Bokova, Marta Herrera-Lombardo, Euvia Bennett), 9:22.42, sixth.

*4x400-meter relay – Cowley (Grace Knight, Bennett, Herrera-Lombardo, Bokova), 4:06.60, 11^th.

*400-meter hurdles – Bokova, 1:03.34, 10^th.

*High jump – Naya Burleson, 5-0 ¾, 12^th.

*1,500-meter run – Linda Filipova, 4:59.62, 12^th.

*100-meter hurdles – Treat, 14.55, 19^th.

*800-meter run – Euvia Bennett, 2:17.18, 10^th.

*Discus – Jessi McDowell, 119-8, 17^th.

*Triple jump – Jadalynn Schnieders, 37-4, 23^rd.

MEN

*Hammer – Brett Clevenger, 167-0, 10^th; Micheal Hesseltine, 161-4, 13^th; Joshua Patton, 161-3, 14^th.

*Shot put – Joshua Patton, 50-7 ¾, 10^th; Cooper Leonard, 48-10 ¼, 13^th.

*Pole vault – Cason Merritt, 14-5 ½, 12^th.

*High jump – Quintin Richardson, 6-7 ½, 12^th; Clayton Lopeman, 6-5 ½, 13^th.

*1,500-meter run – Alexis Realland, 4:06.37, 31^st.

*3,000-meter steeplechase – Esteban Boisseau, 9:17.97, national champion; Wilson Navarette, 10:34.73, 13^th.

*Decathlon – Nash Young, eighth.