Oklahoma State University Athletics
Confident Tennessean Develops into Strong Cowboy
June 21, 1999 | Track O
May 12, 1998
STILLWATER, Okla. -
When life throws obstacles in your path, a first instinct is to overcome them and strive for better days.
This is exactly what sophomore Cowboy middle distance runner Ben Phillips has been doing throughout the course of his running career, overcoming obstacles in his running and finding his way to succeed.
Phillips may be the "new kid on the block" when it comes to team status but he has already started making his mark in collegiate track and field as a standout middle distance runner for the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
The Cleveland, Tenn. native is a transfer student from the University of Louisville in Kentucky where he was a member of the cross country and track programs.
His rise in performance as a Cowboy runner circulates around one thing, confidence.
Phillips is confident that he will succeed in reaching his goals and he has displayed this confidence during four key periods of his running career.
Running became a love of his as far back as junior high school in Cleveland, Tenn. He constantly found himself running second to a faster ninth-grader until he overcame and defeated the ninth-grader in the final track meet of his eighth grade year running a 4:48 in the mile run.
From here, Phillip's confidence soared as he headed into high school. He again faced another obstacle in his running when he was a high school sophomore. He was not allowed to run during this year of high school so he trained and prepared for his junior year.
During this year off he sought out strength from a higher power to keep him growing and developing.
"I was confident that I would become a good runner", said Phillips. "I knew God was with me and because of this, my confidence grew".
During his junior campaign, he began to develop into a "college" type runner.
He participated in the high school cross country state championship race his junior and senior seasons finishing as the individual champion in 1995. During this season, he set the Tennessee state cross country three mile record at 14:55.
Out of high school, he was recruited by several top rated cross country/track and field schools such as Louisville, Illinois State, Tennessee, Penn, Georgetown, Ole Miss and Oklahoma State.
Louisville was chosen and because of this decision, Phillips feels he had to overcome another obstacle in his running.
Upon arriving into Louisville, he performed up to his capabilities recording times of 3:52 in the 1,500m and 1:54 in the 800m but was not happy with his choice.
"I should not have chosen Louisville", said Phillips. "I just wanted to be a big fish in a small pond and it does not work that way".
Upon transferring to Oklahoma State, Phillips has come to realize that he now was going to be a small fish in a big cross country pond under head men's cross country/track coach Dick Weis.
"I made a mistake going to Louisville but I am confident that I will develop with coach's (Weis) system," said Phillips. "Coach teaches and motivates us all the time, when we are doing good and bad. This is something I did not get much of at Louisville".
With a redshirt cross country and indoor track season, Weis prepared Phillips for a strong outdoor season.
With the coaching of Weis, Phillips is positive that he will again be confident and comfortable in his running.
"Confident" and "Comfortable" is exactly how he is running at this point in his career.
Phillip's 1:54.06 in the 800m run at the Arkansas Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. is the team's second best outdoor performance of 1998.
His first love, the 1,500m run continues to improve every time he steps out on a track. He currently holds the seventh best team performance with his 3:52.10 at the Southwest Missouri State Queen City Invitational in Springfield, Mo.
Phillips enjoys running in Stillwater, for OSU and Coach Weis. He hopes to provide OSU track fans with many memorable moments in several events, mostly the 1,500m. He has the goal of going to the national meet one day and maybe finishing his career as an All-American.
"I am sure that I will challenge for the Big 12 championship one day but my long term goal is to make a trip to the national meet in the 1,500m," said Phillips. "I have great guys to train with and the best coach to have me ready. Most of all, I have God and with God I can do just about anything".
