On Jan. 30 and 31, the Washington State track team continued its strong season in Seattle at the UW Invitational. 

Zenah Cheptoo and Rosemary Longisa led WSU with record breaking performances. Cheptoo set a program record in women’s 3000 meters with an 8:53.90 time, and briefly set the school record for the women’s mile with a time of 4:38.61. 

Cheptoo’s record stood as WSU’s best until Longisa broke it with a historic mile time of 4:24.59. The time would earn her a spot in NCAA history, with the third fastest mile all-time. 

Led by Cheptoo and Longisa, WSU recorded a total of 27 personal bests. Here’s a breakdown of how the other WSU runners performed at the UW Invitational.

Women’s Mile (Seeded) 

WSU recorded nine personal bests out of 13 runners in the seeded mile. Cheptoo finished second and was 0.08 seconds behind first place and ranks as the 21st-fastest in the 2026 season.

Six freshmen earned a spot inside the top 100 runners including Daphne Evenson, Brenda Kibor, Taylor Sletnor, Kylah Madariaga and identical twins, Aleeya Cossey and Hailey Cossey. All six freshmen also recorded their personal bests at the UW Invitational as well. 

Men’s Mile (Seeded)  

For the men’s side of things, WSU had a strong performance as well, with seven out of 11 runners recording their personal bests. Junior Kutoven Stevens placed thirteenth with a career best time of 4:04.15. 

The next best runner for WSU out of the set was sophomore Josphat Meli who placed 57th with a time of 4:12.29. Other runners who ran their fastest times are Kade Brownell, Ferran Verges, Eric Swedin, Muhammed Ahmed, Ricard Verges and Micaiah Aden.  

Women’s Mile (Invite)

The highlight of the meet for WSU was Longisa breaking a school record in the mile. Longisa’s 4:24.59 mile broke her previous mile time by 15.05 seconds and ranks as the second fastest mile for a woman this season. 

Women’s 5000-Meter

The lone runner for WSU in the women’s 5,000 was sophomore Lauren Hoyt, who placed eighth out of 12 runners. Hoyt’s time of 17:47.08 is the best indoor time of her career. Her best overall time in the 5,000 in her career was set at the Bill Roe All-Comers Meet on July 23, 2025 in an outdoor race. 

Men’s 5000-Meter 

Eric Swedin had a strong performance in the 5000-meter earning his personal best with a time of 14:37.92. Swedin placed sixth out of 25 runners and beat his previous time by 46.39 seconds. Sophomores Leo Cook and Micaiah Aden had good performances as well. Cook ran a 14:51.14 race, earning him a 15th place finish. Aden had his best 5000-meter run of his collegiate career, recording a time of 15:03.78. 

Women’s 3000-Meter  

Four freshmen earned their personal bests in the 3000-meter race. Brenda Kibor ran a time of 9:26.49, earning her a 17th place finish. Freshman Mercy Biwott competed in her first collegiate race and ran a time of 9:34.88, earning her a 25th place finish. Kylah Madariaga finished close behind Biwott, with a time of 9:35.54, placing 27th and beating her previous time by 23.38 seconds. 

Men’s 3000-Meter 

Josphat Meli had a strong meet, recording his second fastest 3000-meter run of the season with a time of 8:13.50. The sophomore from Eldoret, Kenya, is in his second year with WSU and is yet to run a 3000-meter under eight minutes, but Meli has remained right around that mark this season. 

Women’s 800-Meter 

For the women’s 800-meter, Daphne Evenson had a strong race with a time of 2:12.22 earning her a 23rd place finish. Evenson finished with a time only 1.41 seconds above her personal record she set in high school. The other two runners for WSU in the 800 were Lily Herman and Lindsay Siebert who both recorded their personal bests. 

Men’s 800-Meter 

The two runners who finished in the men’s 800 were brothers Ferran Verges and Ricard Verges. The older of the two, Ferran Verges, placed 22nd with a time of 1:54.74, while Ricard Verges finished 26th in 1:55.21.

Women’s 3000-Meter (Invite)

After finishing behind Longisa for the program record in the mile, Cheptoo claimed the record in 3000-meter, finishing in 8:53.90 and beating her previous record by 2.25 seconds. 

Men’s 3000-Meter (Invite) 

Kutoven Stevens earned his second personal record of the meet in the 3000-meter, running a time of 8:53.90, giving him an 11th place finish. In less than a week, he shaved off over 15 seconds from his last race at the McCluskey Memorial. 

Men’s 5000-Meter (Invite)

Former high school cross country team MVP, Muhammed Ahmed, finished in ninth place with a time of 14:16.68.

Next Meet for Track

Track will have its next meet in Spokane Washington for the Riverfront Invitational on Feb. sixth and seven.