The West Virginia Mountaineers wrapped up their 2026 outdoor season with the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship in Eugene, Oregon, over the weekend. The Mountaineers had three athletes qualify, and they all earned All-American honors. Joy Naukot earned First Team All-America honors in the women’s 10,000 meters on Thursday, June 11. Mercy Kinyanjui and Annishka McDonald earned All-America honors on Saturday, June 13, in the final events of the season for WVU. Read more: Mountaineers shatter records and earn All-American honors in 2026 outdoor season.
Outdoor records
WVU broke multiple school records this outdoor season. McDonald broke her own record in the high jump. A jump of 1.85 meters at the Raleigh Relays in March set that mark. She set the previous record of 1.82 meters last year in the first round of the NCAA Outdoor Championships. McDonald tied that mark a week before breaking it at the USF Alumni Invitational. She set a new record a week after the Raleigh Relays with a jump of 1.87 meters at the George Mason Dalton Ebanks Invitational in the first week of April.
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Naukot set a school record in the women’s 5,000 meters with a time of 15:12.74 at the Bryan Clay Invitational in April. Mercy Kinyanjui set the second-best time in program history at the same event with a time of 15:29.78. They both broke Naomi Kemboi’s mark set one year prior.
Emily Bryce and Lexie Lamb also had stellar days at the Bryan Clay Invitational, setting the fourth- and eighth-best times in school history in the women’s 10,000 meters. Bryce finished with a time of 33.03.35, and Lamb finished in 33.37.41.
ALL-AMERICAN ⭐️
Joy Naukot earns First Team All-America honors in the 10,000m.#HailWV pic.twitter.com/iCurpdxljV
— WVU Cross Country/Track & Field (@WVUXCTF) June 12, 2026
Naukot broke her own record this past week with a time of 31:34.34. The finish earned her fifth place in the Championship. She also holds second-, third-, and sixth-place spots in the school’s record book.
Individual honors
Along with the All-American honors mentioned previously, four athletes earned All-Big 12 honors at the 2026 Big 12 Conference Outdoor Championships. Naukot earned runner-up honors in the 10,000 meters, as did Kinyanjui in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Bryce and Anastasia Chepkorir also earned All-Big 12 honors in the 10,000 meters.
“We have been competing since football season and are still performing while baseball is making its incredible run in Omaha,” Head coach Sean Cleary said. “That is a testament to the commitment these three student-athletes have made to their sport.”
Between the indoor and outdoor seasons and the cross-country season, it has been a long one for most of these runners and athletes.
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