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Five Big Accomplishments for Oklahoma State at Big 12 Track Championships

The Oklahoma State Cowboys didn’t win a team title at the Big 12 Track and Field Championships, but several athletes had big events.
Matt Postins|
Oklahoma State Cowboys logo.
Oklahoma State Cowboys logo. | William Purnell-Imagn Images

The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls finished in the middle of the pack as a team in the Big 12 outdoor track and field championships this weekend in Arizona.

The Cowboys were in seventh place with 62 points. Texas Tech won the team championship with 127 points. The Cowgirls were sixth with 58 points while the Red Raiders also won the team title on the women’s side with 119.50 points.

But that doesn’t mean OSU didn’t accomplish plenty during the championships. Here are five big accomplishments from the Cowboys and the Cowgirls during the Big 12 track and field championships.

Steven Schmidt’s Record-Breaking Weekend

Steven Schmidt was competing in his final Big 12 championships for the Cowboys, and we went out with a bang. He led the Decathlon after the first day and finished third with 7,729 points. He didn’t win a title, but he set a new program record for most points in the event, breaking the previous school record of 7,450 points set by Philip Frank at the 2023 Big 12 Championships.

Schmidt set personal bests in seven of the 10 events, and he broke the Javelin program record with a throw of 60.21 meters, a mark previously held by Max Braht with a 58.61-meter throw at the 2021 Sooner Invitational.

Annie Molenhouse Breaks a Barrier

Whlie Schmidt was setting new records in the Decathlon, Annie Molenhouse was doing the same in the Heptathlon. In fact, she broke a program barrier.

Molenhouse became the first Cowgirl in history to score at least 6,000 points in the Heptathlon, finished with 6,005 points and in second place in the event. She was unable to defend her title from a year ago. But she blew away the program record set by Bailey Golden in 2024, which was 5,887 points. Molenhouse also won the 800 meters and was named All-Big 12 for the fourth time in her career.

Will Muirhead’s Win Under the Lights

One of the last events of the meet was the men’s 5,000 meters and Will Muirhead, a sixth-year senior, pulled off a stunner. He won the race with a time of 13:49.19 and broke the previous Roy P. Drachman stadium record of 13:56.72 set by Ryan Wilson of Arkansas in 1996.

The crazy part? Muirhead was supposed to be a pacer and eventually drop back in the race. He was in a race with multiple first team All-Americans both in track and in cross country. He won his first career Big 12 title and just the third victory in any track race in his Cowboy career.

Burklie Burton’s Big Start

Oklahoma State freshman Burklie Burton has a long career ahead of her and she set a tone for the future with her performance at the Big 12 championship.

Burton competed in the hammer throw, which was the first scored event, and she won her first Big 12 title. She did it convincingly. She threw a personal-best of 67.99 meters, a mark that moves her up to second on the program's all-time list and ninth in the NCAA this year. She joined Delissa McLean (2005) as the second OSU athlete to win the hammer throw on the women’s side.

Four Cowgirls finished in the Top 10 in the event and OSU scored 21 of its 58 points on the women’s side in the hammer throw.

OSU’s Relay Record

The final event on Saturday was the 4x400 meter relay. On the women’s side, the Oklahoma State quartet of Molenhouse, Madisyn Jackson, Jinah Mickens-Malik and Kalen Goodman made some history.

While they finished in fifth place in the race with a time of 3:32.21, they blew away the program record in the event by nearly a second. The previous record was set at the 2022 Baylor Invitational by Christina Ollison, Nicolette Dixon, Kalaya Ali and Tamara Woodley, who ran a time of 3:33.16.

NCAA qualifiers will compete in the NCAA West Prelims from May 27-30 at the West Regional in Fayetteville, Ark. The NCAA Championships will be held from June 10-13 in Eugene, Ore.

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Matthew Postins
MATT POSTINS

Matthew Postins is the publisher of Oklahoma State on SI. He is an award-winning sports journalist who was formerly the editor of the College Football America Yearbook and covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.

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