PULLMAN, Wash. – The 2025-26 Washington State outdoor track team earned nine academic honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, headlined by sophomore national champion Rosemary Longisa as the organization’s 2026 Female Track Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Both the Cougar men’s and women’s track teams were named All-Academic Teams, while Longisa, Mercy Biwott, Caroline Jepkorir, Solomon Kipchoge, Josphat Meli, and Kutoven Stevens were named All-Academic Scholar Athletes.
The 1,500-meter run outdoor national champion, Longisa became the first Cougar in track program history to be named the USTFCCCA Scholar Athlete of the Year, earning a 3.60 cumulative GPA as a sport management major. She became the first Cougar woman in program history to win the 1,500-meter event, the first Cougar woman to win a national championship since 2003, and claimed the second-fastest time in NCAA history during the outdoor season.
The Cougar women posted a cumulative team GPA of 3.57, headlined by Longisa, alongside Jepkorir with a 3.44 in sport management and Biwott with a 3.28 and an undeclared major. The WSU men posted a cumulative GPA of 3.45 to earn the national honor. Stevens led the Cougs with a 3.91 GPA as an art major, alongside Kipchoge with a 3.55 and Meli with a 3.32 as sport management majors.
USTFCCCA All-Academic Awards to all nominated student-athletes who meet ALL the following criteria:
Teams
Awarded to all nominated programs who meet the following criteria:
The cumulative GPA for all student-athletes on the NCAA Squad List for Indoor and/or Outdoor Track and Field must be 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale, certifiable by the institution's registrar. Institutions utilizing a different GPA scale must convert the GPA to a 4.0 scale using the standard conversion method [GPA/Scale x 4.0].
The cumulative GPA of all student-athletes on the institution's NCAA Squad List for Indoor and/or Outdoor Track and Field must be computed by the following method:
Total the cumulative number of semester hours or quarter hours earned for all student-athletes on the NCAA Squad List including the most recent grading period;
Total the cumulative number of quality points (GPA multiplied by the number of credit hours) earned by all student-athletes including the most recent grading period;
Divide the cumulative number of quality points earned by the cumulative number of semester or quarter hours earned.
Transfer students and/or graduate students are to include only grades earned at the current nominating institution.
Individuals
Awarded to all nominated student-athletes who meet the following criteria:
Minimum cumulative grade point average of a 3.25 on a 4.0 scale through the end of the semester of competition. Institutions utilizing a different GPA scale must convert the GPA to a 4.0 scale using the standard conversion method [GPA/Scale x 4.0]. Data must be certifiable by the institution's registrar.
Must have been academically eligible at the National Championships in the respective season that his or her athletic mark was achieved in.
Transfer students and/or graduate students are to include only grades earned at the current nominating institution.
Athletic Criteria: Must have achieved ONE of the following:
Must have finished the season among the top 50 individuals listed on the descending order lists on TFRRS.
In addition, any athletes not among the top 50, but who participated at the Indoor OR Outdoor National Championships, are eligible.
Must have competed as a member of one of the top 35 relay teams as listed on the descending order list on TFRRS.
In addition, any athletes not among the top 35 relay teams, but who participated in the relay at the Indoor OR Outdoor National Championships, are eligible.
Finally, any competing relay team member on an expanded descending order list to include 35 institutions (1 relay team per institution) is eligible.
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