Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Cross Country & Track
- Title:
- Assistant Coach - Distance
- Email:
- aboyert@okstate.edu
- Phone:
- (405) 744-8765
Oklahoma State Cross Country and Track & Field added former-Cowgirl Anna Thorp as an assistant distance coach for the Pokes in 2019.
Her youth and experience as a student-athlete under Dave Smith in the Oklahoma State program gives her a unique perspective on the collegiate sport that she made quick use of once becoming a part of her alma mater’s coaching staff.
Most recently, Thorp guided the Cowgirls to their second straight Big 12 Cross Country title with a conference-record 22 points with eight Cowgirls garnering All-Big 12 honors. At the 2022 NCAA Cross Country Championships in Stillwater, Thorp coached the Cowgirls to their first-ever team trophy with a fourth-place finish, led by Cowgirl All-Americans Natalie Cook and Taylor Roe.
During the 2023 indoor season, Thorp’s distance crew led the charge as the Cowgirls captured their first-ever conference track & field title over No. 1 Texas, with distance athletes scoring 86 of the team’s program-record 146 points overall. She then coached Roe to a third-place finish in the 3,000 Meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships and the DMR squad of Billah Jepkirui, Tamara Woodley, Gabija Galvydyte and Roe to first team All-American honors.
Galvydyte and Jepkirui continued their momentum outdoors under Thorp’s tutelage with the pair each winning Big 12 titles and earning first team All-America honors in the 800 and 1,500 Meters, respectively. Following her runner-up performance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Galvydyte broke the school record and qualified for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in the 800 Meters for her home country of Lithuania.
During the 2021-22 season, Thorp helped coach the cross country women to their third Big 12 Cross Country Championship, winning by just a single point over rivals Iowa State.
She also coached Roe to the program’s fifth individual national championship as she won the NCAA title in the indoor 3,000 Meters. During the 2022 outdoor season, she helped coach Roe, Galvydyte and Gabby Hentemann to first-team All-America performances at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
In just her first year with the program in 2019, while primarily working with the female distance athletes of the program, Thorp led the Cowgirls to their second-ever Big 12 Cross Country Championship, their first since 2015.
In 2020, Thorp worked closely with Roe, who posted an incredible sophomore season with the Cowgirls. Roe finished runner-up at the 2020 Big 12 Cross Country Championship and she didn’t stop there. Later that same season, Roe maintained her rank among the best in the nation with a runner-up finish at the 2020 NCAA Cross Country Championship in a field of 255 total racers.
The following indoor season, a trio of Cowgirls with which Thorp worked closely with – Roe, Sivan Auerbach and Gabby Hentemann – each earned themselves a Big 12 title at the indoor conference meet. Auerbach took the crown in the 1,000 meters, Roe claimed gold in the mile and Gabby Hentemann earned the event win in the 3,000 meters. The group’s first-place finishes played majorly into the Cowgirls’ 107 point performance, which earned them the second-place team finish.
A native of Medina, Ohio, Thorp graduated from Oklahoma State in 2017 with degrees in marketing and management. During her time as a Cowgirl, she was a five-time All-Big 12 honoree, a four-time academic all-conference selection and was a Second Team All-American as the anchor leg of the ninth-place indoor distance medley relay in 2016.
Thorp was a member of the Big 12 Champion Cowgirl cross country team in 2015 and she advanced to the NCAA West Regional quarterfinals in the 800 meters during the 2015 outdoor season. In 2016, Boyert-Thorp placed third in the mile at the Big 12 Indoor Championships and advanced to the NCAA West Regional prelims in the 1,500 meters.
