Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU harriers making their mark in 1997
April 06, 2003 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track
Coming off a clean sweep last weekend when they captured the Wichita State Gold Classic taking the top five spots, the Cowboys had no trouble taking six of the top seven spots this weekend.
Oral Roberts, Wichita State and Tulsa participated in the race. OSU swept all three schools.
The four mile race displayed signs of future success in the upcoming season.
"Being so early in the season, we still have a lot of work to do," said OSU head men's coach Dick Weis. "The times were good, we are happy with the results considering we finished before the rain and lightning hit." "We have to be happy with what our kids are doing considering we have not been doing any speed work, just running hard ten milers twice a week with a total of 80 to 90 miles a week."
Stepping up in week two and leading the team to it's second win of the season was Habel Churu. Finishing strong in third place at the Gold Classic last week in a time of (20:32.2), he controlled the field of 30 Saturday, finishing in a time of (20:08.7).
"Habel ran real well two weeks in a row," said Weis. "Last week he went out strong too early and tried to take the lead at about the 2.5 mile mark; and this week he adjusted his race and waited until the last mile to turn it on."
"I was feeling very relaxed, especially after the three mile mark," said Churu. "I just felt like going strong out there." "I felt much better this week; today i felt much smoother."
Also coming through for his team was Chuck Sloan. Coming off a second place finish last week at the Gold Classic with a time of (20:24.2), Sloan kicked in another second place finish in a time of (20:13.9).
"The race felt fine; our cross-country course is tough, i just got out there and stayed with it until Nathaniel went; from there i just tried to keep a good distance on him and just went from there trying to see what i had for the last mile to kick it in, Gitogo just had a little more on me", said Sloan.
Cowboy newcomer junior Nathaniel Lane from Great Britain cruised into third place with a time of (20:22.9). Rene Carlsen finished fourth (20:28.3), Scott Gray was sixth (20:29.3) and Brian Young seventh in (20:30.3). Erik Framme rounded out the OSU finishers with a 12th place finish (21:03.7)
The Cowgirl squad also raced well opening their 1997 season hosting Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Wichita State at the Duals. They posted wins against Tulsa and Oral Roberts, falling to Wichita State.
They were led by Hanna Smedstad who dominated the field of 35 finishing first in a time of (10:51.4) for the two mile race.
Joining Smedstad in the top 10 was Tamara Dingley who finished in seventh place covering the course in a time of (11:28.6).
Early signs of success were displayed in today's race. "We are almost where we want to be; we still have some way to go before we get there," said head women's cross-country coach Catrina Acosta.
"The race had some interesting competition." "We will perform better over a 5K course; I train my athletes for the 5K, not the two miler." "The 15th of November is the magic day and we were not going to do it here today like this; today was just a test." "It was a good test which tells me a lot of things about what we need to do to adjust and get our people ready for the 15th."
Rounding out the Cowgirl finishers were Andrene Thompson (14th) (11:43.1), Jenny Koch (15th) (11:43.5), Brandi Woodard (21st) (12:09.6), Ashley Barby (27th) (12:56.2), Karla Dennis (29th) (13:22.6), Heather Webb (32nd) (14:55.7) and Nikki Roady (33rd) (15:49.7)
