AMES, Iowa – Wesley Kiptoo’s outstanding performances throughout the outdoor track and field season continue to get recognition, as the Cyclone was named the USTFCCCA’s Midwest Region Men’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year. Kiptoo is the first Cyclone men’s runner to earn Outdoor Athlete of the Year since the current regional structuring began in 2007. Two weeks ago, Kiptoo became the first male Cyclone to be named Big 12 Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Performer of the Year.

Kiptoo only toed the line seven times during the outdoor season so far, but each time he has the Marakwet, Kenya native found a way to make history. His first run of the outdoor season came on Apr. 2 at the Hayward Premiere in Eugene, Oregon, where Kiptoo ran to what was then the fastest time in the nation at 10,000m to win the event in 27:58.10.

Three weeks later he was back in Eugene for the Oregon Relays as part of a star-studded race. Though he finished fourth in the 5,000m that night, Kiptoo did clock a personal best 13:21.02, the No. 3 time in ISU history and at the time the No. 4 mark in the country with all three finishing ahead of him being previous NCAA Champions in Oregon’s Cole Hocker and Cooper Teare and his ISU teammate Edwin Kurgat.

At the  Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships three weeks ago, Kiptoo became the first male student-athlete in Big 12 history to win three individual conference titles in the same weekend, earning the Championships High Point Award in the process. What made Kiptoo’s triple impressive was that it took place in the three longest races: the 3,000m steeplechase, the 5,000m run and 10,000m run and all in record-breaking fashion. Kiptoo is believed to be the first men’s student-athlete to win those three conference championships at the same conference meet since Ole Miss’ Barnabas Kirui did so at the 2007 SEC Outdoor Championships.

All three of Kiptoo’s wins came in meet-record times, with two of Kansas State’s R.V. Christian Track Records going down and one of the oldest ISU school records being taken down. He started his run with a dominant wire-to-wire win in the 10,000m, claiming the title in 28:22.98 and leading an ISU 1-2-3-4 in the event.

The next day saw Kiptoo make his ISU debut in the steeplechase, and once again he went wire-to-wire in a Championships, Facility and School Record time of 8:31.82 and 14 seconds ahead of his closest competitor. Kiptoo’s mark took down Iowa State’s 25-year old school record of 8:32.01 run by Dmitry Drozdov at the 1996 NCAA Track & Field Championships, and is also the No. 2 time in the event this year in NCAA Division I.

In the rain for the 5,000m, Kiptoo had his first non-wire-to-wire win of the weekend, but he was able to shake off his closest competitor in the first mile and pulled away to another Championships and Facility record of 13:29.92 to complete his triple.

At the NCAA West Preliminaries last weekend, Kiptoo went wire-to-wire in both the 5,000 and 10,000-meter runs to secure his entries to next week’s NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. He set a Texas A&M E.B. Cushing Stadium records in both events, going 28:50.11 in the 10K, and 13:42.70 in the 5K. Kiptoo’s 10,000 mark was also an NCAA West Prelims meet record.

Kiptoo and the rest of the Cyclones begin the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, hosted at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, on Wednesday.