College athletes prepare for 2026 NCAA Track & Field championships

MOSES LAKE — The college track and field season is coming to an end this week as athletes from around the state are heading to the NCAA Outdoor championships at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon.  

Eastern Washington University

The Eagles will be sending one athlete, Cort Gebbers, to the championships for discus. According to a release from EWU Athletics, Gebbers earned his spot for the championship with a standout performance at the NCAA West First Rounds after placing 11th overall and recording a personal-best throw of 56.86 meters, which moves him to second in program history. 

Gebbers will enter the national meet ranked 23rd in the field and compete against 23 of the nation's top discus throwers Friday starting at 2:15 p.m. 

Gonzaga

Rosina Machu is heading to the NCAA Outdoor Championships for both the 5000 meters and the 10000 meters. 

According to official results from the NCAA West First Round, Machu qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 5000 meters after running a time of 15:38.43 and took 10th. Machu qualified for the 10000 meters with a time of 32:29.47 to take seventh overall. 

Machu will compete in the 10000m Thursday at 7:56 p.m. and the 5000m Saturday at 6:55 p.m. 

University of Washington

The Huskies are sending 17 athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Championships this week, which, according to a release from UW Athletics, is the second highest bid total under the current qualifying format which began in 2010. 

For the men, UW will be sending Alex Rhodes for the 400m, Martin Barco and Rueben Reina for the 1500m, Evan Jenkins for the 10000m, Isaac Briggs for the 3000m steeplechase, Jimmy Rhoads for pole vault and Teko Cates for the decathlon. 

On the women’s side, Chloe Foerster qualified for the 1500m, Julia David Smith for the 5000m, Chloe Thomas for both the 5000m and the 10000m, Sara Borton, Amanda Moll, Hana Moll and Veronica for pole vault, Saydi Orange for Javelin and Sofia Cosculluela for the heptathlon. 

Each of these athletes will be competing in events from June 10-13. 

Washington State University

Three WSU track athletes qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Rosemary Longisa, Caroline Jepkorir and Evans Kurui, as stated by WSU Athletics. 

Kurui will be competing in the 5000m and 10000m events after clocking 28:45.60 and 13.41.96 respectively. 

Longisa enters the championship as the country’s fastest 1500m runner and took back-to-back first-place finishes at the West First Rounds. Jepkorir will compete in the 3000m steeplechase after snagging qualification in the West First Rounds with a time of 10:10.15, taking 11th overall. 

The Cougars will be competing June 10-13 with Kurui competing Wednesday at 7:56 p.m. and Thursday at 6:55 p.m. Longisa will race Thursday at 5:21 p.m. and Jepkorir will compete Thursday at 5:38 p.m. 

    Evans Kurui from WSU begins to pull ahead of the crowd during the West First Rounds as he qualified in the 5000m.