Oklahoma State University Athletics
Open Spaces
October 11, 2000 | Cowgirl Cross Country & Track
Oct. 11, 2000
Daily O'Collegian
Oklahoma State University
by Adana Conway
It was like the song was written with this Oklahoma State long distance runner in mind.
Wide open spaces.
| Sara Wells |
Think about it. What sport sends its players racing through the countryside, over trails lined with trees, bushes, grass and dirt? What sport doesn't need yard line markers, a diamond with base pads, or pine wood flooring with painted three-point lines? And what sport showcases its talent under a vast blanket of blue sky with its edges tucked under the horizon? It could only be cross country.
Nature alone provides the scenic arena. Wide open spaces.
And it's where you'll find senior Sara Wells out in front, bedecked in her fluorescent orange OSU jersey, pacing the field of runners as they maneuver along the way.
Wells, 21, a psychology senior from Salina, Kan., agreed: She likes the fact she gets to run over nature trails instead of an oval track that only goes in circles.
"I just love it," Wells said. "People ask me 'Why do you run cross country? That's crazy.' But I love the trees and the bushes, everything about it. And I think we've have one of the best courses out there to practice on."
She's right. Oklahoma State does own one of the best cross country trails in the NCAA, one she says is both challenging and fun.
"The way it weaves around, over the grass then through the trees, up and down the hills," Wells said. "It's tough one to run, but I like it, I like it a lot."
Wells and her teammates, as well as the Cowboys men's team, played host to the 63rd Cowboy Jamboree Sept. 30. The event was attended by 6,000 people - 3,500 of them runners. Both teams placed high. Overall the Cowgirls wrapped up second (Wells placed second individually) while the Cowboys took home a team third.
In turn, her time of 17:29 was more than a minute faster from her previous year's showing at the 5K event and paced her team to its third top-2 showing of the season.
When asked about one specific hill on OSU's course, Wells laughed and said she hated it because it was one place where a mistake could possibly happen.
"That small hill, near the end of the course, I do not like it one bit," she said. "When I ran it at the Jamboree, it was lined with a bunch of soft dirt and the footing was tough."
Wells said she had wished it would have rained a few days before the Jamboree to pack it down better, but looked at it as an equalizer because "everyone had to go over it, not just me."
The middle child of three siblings, Wells fell into cross country running by accident, taking it up during her junior year of high school to accommodate her training in other sports. As she developed her running skills, her talent opened opportunities beginning at Colby County (Kansas) Community College, where she was on the team for two years.
Last fall was her first as a Cowgirl.
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"I think you can have all of the physical abilities possible but if you don't have the mental part in condition, you aren't going to make it." |
"I try to get them involved, let them know that everything they do is for the team," Wells said.
"Cross country is such a team sport, everyone affects the team with their individual times. It's not like track where you are more of an individual.
"Running is so mental. The whole time you are out there things are going through your head like 'Why am I here?' or 'I'm tired' and if you let it get to you then you are not going to make it.
"I think you can have all of the physical abilities possible but if you don't have the mental part in condition, you aren't going to make it."
Wells said she wrestles with thoughts like that during a race, pointing, for example, to her Jamboree finish.
"I think I settled for second," she admitted. "But I told myself I'm going to make it hurt even more the next time."
That "can-do" attitude earned her Big 12's Runner of the Week honors (Sept. 19), something she'd trade for the opportunity to go as a team to nationals in November.
"I think going to nationals by yourself just isn't as fun as it would be if you had your teammates with you," Wells said. "Unless you are at the top and have a good chance of winning on your own, then it may not affect you, but I think it doesn't beat going as a team.
"It would be a great way to go out as a senior, too."
She said the Cowgirls have a good chance this season of doing just that, after placing above a field of Big 12 teams at the Jamboree.
Now, as the season runs down, Wells said each of the remaining meets prove critical. It's time for the Cowgirls to tighten up the laces and break away from the pack.
"I know we are a lot better than we were last year," Wells said. "And that gives us hope."
Add to that a multitude of opportunities that are as wide as the open spaces she runs through.
