Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Look for Crowns at Big 12 Indoor
June 21, 1999 | Track I
February 18, 1999
STILLWATER, Okla. - After fighting sicknesses all week, Oklahoma State's men's track team is ready to take on the rest of the conference in the Big 12 Indoor Track Championships on Friday and Saturday at the Ahearn Fieldhouse in Manhattan, Kan.
"If we're healthy, we'll do fine," OSU coach Dick Weis said.
The Cowboys are looking to take the title in several distance events. So far this season, OSU has recorded top five conference times in the mile, 3,000m and 5,000m.
"We're overloaded in the distance events," Weis said.
Junior Chuck Sloan has his eyes set on the 3,000m championship. So far this season, he has recorded the best time in the Big 12 by almost 13 seconds. His 8:02.17 at the Cyclone Classic on Feb. 6 provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Championships, but he needs to improve his time because he is No. 15 in the national rankings and only 16 athletes are allowed in the event at the NCAA Championships.
Sloan will be competing against fellow teammates Ren Carlsen, Gitogo Churu, Scott Gray, Nathaniel Lane, Bruce Wright and Brian Young in the 3,000m.
In the mile, Andrew Hennessy, Steffan Stegmark, Sloan and Young are all in contention for the mile crown. Young and Hennessy have recorded the second (4:07.72) and third (4:08.65) best Big 12 times, respectively.
Churu is the leading candidate for OSU's quest of the 5,000m championship. The senior is just shy of provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Championships with a 14:24.24 mark. Lane and Carlsen also are ranked in the top nine in the league in that event. Gray and Wright will compete for the Cowboys in the 5,000m as well.
Young will try to defend his 1,000m conference title. He will get some stiff competition from teammates David Greenshields, Ben Phillips and Hennessy, who has posted the eighth-best Big 12 time this season (2:29.05).
The Cowboys are also going to try to qualify for nationals in the distance medley relay. They need to get a time of 9:40.00 to qualify for the NCAA. The team of Churu, Hennessy, Sloan and Young competed in the event once before this season but did not finish the race.
OSU also will have athletes competing in the 800m, the 600y, the 400m, the 200m and 4x400m relay.
Friday's events begin at 8 a.m. with the 60m hurdles portion of the women's pentathlon. The first event for the Cowboys is the long jump at 3 p.m., where Clyde Ellis will compete. The day ends with the distance medley relay at 10 p.m.
The second day of the meet starts with the men's heptathlon's 60m hurdles at 9 a.m. The day ends with the 4x400m relay at 7:15 p.m. The first event OSU will participate in is the shot put at 11 a.m. with Chris Nuttle throwing.
