Oklahoma State University Athletics
2026-27 Cowboy Cross Country & Track Roster
Roster
Denis Kipngetich
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- Kapsabet, Kenya
For an updated list of personal bests, visit the link below:
https://www.tfrrs.org/athletes/8647596/Oklahoma_State/Denis__Kipngetich.html
Personal Bests
1,500 Meters – 3:43.39
Mile – 4:00.50
3,000 Meters – 7:42.04
5,000 Meters – 13:12.91
10,000 Meters – 27:20.10*
8K (XC) – 22:29.2
10K (XC) – 28:44.3
* - school record entering the 2026-27 season
Honors and Awards
2026 Outdoor USTFCCCA Midwest Region Men’s Track Athlete of the Year
2026 Outdoor Second Team All-American – 5,000 Meters (11th)
2026 Outdoor First Team All-American – 10,000 Meters (4th)
2026 Outdoor All-Big 12 – 10,000 Meters (2nd)
2026 Indoor First Team All-American – 5,000 Meters (7th)
2026 Indoor All-Big 12 – 5,000 Meters (2nd)
2025 Cross Country All-American – 6th
2025 Cross Country NCAA Midwest Regional Champion
2025 Cross Country All-Region – 1st
2025 Cross Country All-Big 12 – 4th
2025 Cross Country Cowboy Jamboree Champion
2025 Outdoor Second Team All-American – 10,000 Meters (9th)
2025 Outdoor All-Big 12 (5,000 & 10,000 Meters)
2025 Indoor First Team All-American - 5,000 Meters (5th)
2025 Indoor All-Big 12 (5,000 Meters)
2024 Cross Country All-American – 11th
2024 Cross Country NCAA Midwest Regional Champion
2024 Cross Country All-Region – 1st
2024 Cross Country All-Big 12 – 6th
2024 Cross Country Weis-Crockett Invitational Champion
2024 Outdoor First Team All-American – 10,000 Meters (3rd)
2024 Outdoor All-Big 12 (5,000 Meters)
2024 Indoor Second Team All-American - 5,000 Meters (13th)
2024 Indoor All-Big 12 (5,000 Meters)
2023 Cross Country USTFCCCA Midwest Region Athlete of the Year
2023 Cross Country All-American - 4th
2023 Cross Country NCAA Midwest Regional Champion
2023 Cross Country All-Region – 1st
2023 Cross Country All-Big 12 -14th
2023 Cross Country Big 12 Runner of the Week (Sept. 23)
2023 Cross Country Cowboy Jamboree Champion
International Competition
Competed for his native country of Kenya on the international stage… Placed third at the 2023 Kenyan Senior Cross Country Championships.
2026 Outdoors
Opened his outdoor campaign with an impressive showing at the Stanford Invitational, clocking a time of 27:38.36 as he finished behind only eventual national champion Habtom Samuel, defeating the rest of the field by nearly ten seconds… Ran the second-fastest outdoor 5K time in program history at the Bryan Clay Invitational with his time of 13:13.43 as he took second once again in a loaded field… Was the Big 12 Runner-Up in the 10,000 Meters with his time of 29:23.30… Qualified for the NCAA Championships in both the 5K and 10K as he finished fourth overall in each event at the NCAA West First Round in Arkansas… Earned first team All-America honors in the 10,000 Meters for the second time in his career as he placed fourth… Was a second team All-American in the 5K as he finished 11th overall… Was named USTFCCCA Midwest Region Outdoor Men’s Track Athlete of the Year.
2026 Indoors
Clocked the third-fastest time in program history in the 5,000 Meters with his mark of 13:12.91 at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston… Narrowly missed out on his first Big 12 title, placing second in the 5K at the Big 12 Indoor Championships with his time of 13:43.99 at altitude… Once again earned first team All-America honors in the 5,000 Meters with his time of 13:45.24 for a seventh-place finish overall.
2025 Cross Country
Dominated a loaded Cowboy Jamboree field to kick off his cross country campaign, winning with his time of 23:33.7 and helping the Cowboys upset No. 2 New Mexico 36-41 to open the regular season… Earned All-Big 12 honors as he placed fourth to help the Cowboy upset No. 1 Iowa State by 23 points and give the program its 14th Big 12 title in 18 years… Won his third straight NCAA Midwest Regional title by nearly five seconds to help OSU win the region once again and punch their ticket to NCAAs… Again showed up when the Cowboys needed him most, earning a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships as the Cowboys dominated their way to the program’s sixth NCAA title, scoring 57 points on the day.
2025 Outdoors
Opened his outdoor campaign at The TEN, storming to a nearly one minute personal best in the 10,000 Meters, clocking a time of 27:20.10, which broke the school record by almost 20 seconds overall… Got his NCAA regional qualifier in the 10K by winning the Payton Jordan Invitational by over 15 seconds with his time of 28:05.22… Ran a personal best in the 1,500 Meters of 3:43.39 at the Arkansas Twilight… Earned a pair of All-Big 12 honors in the 5K and 10K at the Big 12 Championships… Qualified through to the NCAA Championships with an easy fourth-place finish at the NCAA West Prelims… Earned second team All-America honors in the 10,000 Meters with his ninth-place finish overall.
2025 Indoors
Fired off an impressive season opener, clocking a new personal best time of 13:18.33 in the 5,000 Meters at the Sharon Colyear-Danvlle Season Opener, which moved him up to third in program history… Nearly broke four minutes in the Mile for the first time with his mark of 4:00.50 at the Razorback Invitational… Won the Tyson Invitational in the 3,000 Meters with a personal best of 7:42.04, which ranked fourth in program history… Earned All-Big 12 honors with his runner-up performance in the 5,000 Meters at the Big 12 Indoor Championships… Had a career-best indoor run at the NCAA Indoor Championships, clocking a huge personal best of 13:13.71 to finish fifth overall and earn first team All-America honors.
2024 Cross Country
Once again proved one of the best distance talents in the NCAA on the grass during the 2024 season… Opened with a fourth-place finish at the Cowboy Jamboree with his 8K time of 23:21.0, finishing behind a pair of NCAA champions and teammate Laban Kipkemboi… Won the Weis-Crockett Invitational as the Cowboys finished with 18 points as a team… Earned All-Big 12 honors with a sixth-place finish overall, clocking an 8K personal best of 22:29.2 at the Big 12 Championships… Won the NCAA Midwest Regional for the second consecutive season as the Cowboys stormed to an 18-point victory over No. 3 Iowa State… Placed 11th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, earning All-America honors for the second time.
2024 Outdoors
Continued his dominant campaign outdoors, kicking off his season with a time of 28:12.88 in the 10,000 Meters… Earned All-Big 12 honors once again in the 5,000 Meters as he placed third overall with a time of 13:38.84… Qualified for the NCAA West Prelims in the 10,000 Meters, narrowly missing out on the regional title as he finished second behind New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel with a time of 28:27.68… At the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Kipngetich placed third behind Samuel and Alabama’s Victor Kiprop in the 10K to earn first team All-America honors for the first time on the track… His time of 28:10.25 at the NCAA Championships ranks fifth in program history in the event.
2024 Indoors
Opened his season with an impressive performance at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston, clocking a personal-best 5K time of 13:26.34, which ranked third in program history… Took second behind teammate Alex Maier in the 3K at the Eagle Elite Invitational in Boston with his time of 7:44.78, which was fifth in program history… Earned All-Big 12 Honors in the 5,000 Meters with a third-place finish overall… Qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 5K, earning second team All-America honors with a 13th-place finish.
2023 Cross Country
Immediately established himself as one of the best long-distance runners in the NCAA in his first season with the Cowboys… Won his first career cross country meet at the Cowboy Jamboree, clocking a time of 23:21.5 for a 20 second victory, which is the sixth-fastest 8K time in the history of the Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course… For his performance, Kipngetich was named Big 12 Runner of the Week (Sept. 23)… Earned All-Big 12 honors with his 14th-place finish at the Big 12 Cross Country Championships as the Cowboys brought home their fourth straight conference title… Once again dominated the field at the NCAA Midwest Regionals, defeating the rest of the pack by 10 seconds on his way to the regional individual title and second meet victory of the season… Carried his momentum straight into the NCAA Cross Country Championships, finishing fourth at the national meet, which was tied for the second-highest finish by a Cowboy at the men’s championships… His fourth-place finish boosted the Cowboys to their fifth NCAA title in program history with the fourth-lowest score by any team in the NCAA since 2000 with 49.
