Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Big 12 Championships (W)
Injuries Do In Cowgirls at Big 12 Track Championships
May 19, 2002 | Track O
May 19, 2002
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Oklahoma State's men's and women's track and field teams concluded the final day of competition in the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 5,000-meter run at Audrey J. Walton Track Stadium in Columbia, Mo.
The Cowgirls only available competitor left for the 5,000-meter run was senior Siri Alfheim. Valentina Medina and Alexandra Lindquist were both scheduled to compete, but sat out with foot injuries after the 1,500m. Alfheim took third place in the event with a NCAA provisional time of 16 minutes, 22.74 seconds. Sara Gorton of Colorado set a meet and stadium record with her time of 16:11.83.
The Cowboys had everybody available for the 5k. Junior Jason Woolhouse was the only Cowboy to score points. He finished fifth in the race with a time of 14:26.42. Dathan Ritzenhein of Colorado won the race with a time of 13:56.21.
Senior Paula Gowing went into the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a badly sprained ankle. She still managed to set a school record with a time of 10:58.13 seconds and finish seventh. Jamie Lucero was 15th. Lesley Higgins of Colorado won the race and set a Big 12 Meet Record in the process with a time of 10:26.16.
The Cowboys had a good showing in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase. Sophomore Chris McWatters made a surge to finish in fourth place in a time of 9:04.96. Junior Ben Sigle was able finish as all conference by placing eighth with a time of 9:16.97. Steve Slattery of Colorado won the event with a time of 8:51.25.
Three Cowgirls were in the finals of the 1,500-meter run. Alfheim was the first Cowgirl to finish. She was an All-Big 12 performer by finishing sixth with a mark of 4:24.89. Medina was also an All-Big 12 athlete by holding on for eighth place. Lindquist failed to score by finishing ninth. Amy Mortimer of Kansas State won the race with a time of 4:19.26.
Freshman Maria Berggren was able to pick up a point for the Cowgirls by finishing eighth in the triple jump. She jumped a distance of 40 feet, 0.5 inches, which is her best mark this outdoor season. Freshman Paula Ogunbanjo was twelfth with a distance of 37-7.25. Senior Stephani Duff aggravated a hamstring injury in her final competition as a Cowgirl. Brooklyn Hann, a freshman from Kansas, won the event with a triple jump of 42-11.
The Cowgirls finished 12th with 19 team points. Kansas State repeated as champions after winning the title last year. They maintained a slim margin over Texas and Nebraska. The Cowgirls only competed in eight of the 21 events and scored points in six of those events by finishing in the top eight.
The Cowboys were 12th in the standings with 15 points. Nebraska took their third Big 12 Championship in the short history of the conference.
"My kids performed well. They trained hard all year long and they performed exceptionally well. It is tough when you lose kids like we did at the beginning of the year. We only competed in five events and we scored in three of them. This is a very tough league to do anything in when you only compete in five events," men's head coach Dick Weis said.
