Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Compete in Third Big 12 Championships
May 23, 2003 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track
Cowboys compete in third Big 12 Championships Oklahoma State is making a run at several individual distance championships here at the third Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The Cowboys have athletes in the top five of the Big 12 in five events. They are trying to improve on last year's 12th-place finish at the Big 12 Championships.
Cowboy NCAA Qualifications
1,500m Run (3:41.30a/3:45.00p) Brian Young Cardinal Invitational 5/7 3:44.23p Chuck Sloan Tyson Invitational 4/17 3:45.81 Andrew Hennessy Tyson Invitational 4/17 3:46.32
Mile Run (3:59.00a/4:03.04p) Andrew Hennessy Life University 5/1 4:04.35
3,000m Steeplechase (8:43.00a/8:54.00p) Chuck Sloan Cardinal Invitational 5/7 8:37.06a ! @ Andrew Hennessy Cardinal Invitational 5/7 8:39.71a !
5,000m Run (13:48.00a/14:10.00p) Nathaniel Lane Penn Relays 4/22 14:07.41p ! Gitogo Churu Cardinal Invitational 5/7 14:09.18p
10,000m Run (29:10.00a/29:55.00p) Nathaniel Lane Stanford Invitational 3/27 29:01.17a ! Ren Carlsen Stanford Invitational 3/27 29:08.31a ! Gitogo Churu Penn Relays 4/22 29:55.64
@ New School Record Those times not marked reflect ! New Personal Record athletes who are close to qualifying
Here to help with OSU track & field On hand for this weekends Big 12 meet is Oklahoma States womens track & field media relations contact Josh Maxson. The men's media relations contact, Cindy Haley, can be reached in the office at (405) 707-7830, by fax at (405) 743-0256, at home at (405) 744-2182 or by e-mail at harrelc@okstate.edu.
Cowboys getting ready for NCAA Championships After this weekend's Big 12 meet, OSU will take a week off to prepare for the NCAA Outdoor Championships on June 2-4 in Boise, Idaho. The Cowboys already have seven athletes qualified for the national championships, and several are within a second or two of reaching the provisionally qualifying mark in the 1,500m, mile and 10,000m.
School's 3,000m steeplechase record falls Chuck Sloan, a junior from Billings, Mont., shattered the 32-year-old school record in the 3,000m steeplechase just two weeks ago. He set the new record with a time of 8:37.06, breaking the old one of 8:38.20 set by Chris McCubbins at the Pan American Games in 1967. Sloan won the Big 12 steeplechase championship last year in the closest race of the 1998 meet. He came from behind to edge Ray Hughes of Missouri for the title. The race was so close that both runners ended with the same time, 8:52.30, yet Sloan was awarded first after looking at the photo finish. He went on to earn All-American honors in the event.
Cowboys land 11 on Big 12 honor roll Late last week, the Big 12 announced its Academic All-Big 12 Team, and the Cowboys were honored by having 11 athletes on the team, including eight on the first team. Andrew Hennessy led the way for the Cowboys, posting a 4.00 for graduate studies in health, physical education and leisure last fall. Nathaniel Lane, Ren Carlsen, Cam Katchuck, Staffan Stegmark, David Greenshields, David Metzger and Chris Nuttle round out the first team. Ben Phillips, Jerry Rainey and Scott Gray were named honorable mention.
OSU signs four freshmen for the 1999-2000 season Oklahoma State's men's track team went from Sweden to England to right here in Oklahoma to sign four athletes for the 1999-2000 season. Twins Bjorn and Johan Bergstrom come from Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, where they ran for 10 years under their father and coach, Sven Bergstrom. Each brother has won three national championships while competing in their home country. Gavin Thompson hails from Sharpthorne, West Sussex, England, where he attended Ardingly College. While at Ardingly, he competed in cross country, track and soccer. The lone American is Kevin Connolly from Edmond, Okla. He currently attends high school at Bishop McGuiness. The four athletes will have freshmen eligibility for the upcoming cross country season.
Sloan gearing up for repeat bid at All-American Chuck Sloan came to Oklahoma State with high expectations and is beginning to meet them. In just his sophomore year last season, Sloan won All-America honors in the outdoor 3,000m steeplechase by placing sixth at the national championships. In his last meet before this year's conference championships, Sloan set a new school record in the steeplechase while also recording the second-best time in the nation so far.
He added to that this year by garnering Big 12 indoor honors in the 3,000m and as a part of the distance medley relay team. Sloan fell short of his goal for All-America honors in the 3,000m as he finished 14th at nationals, but the DMR team finished eighth for All-America honors.
Hennessy making immediate impact on team Senior Andrew Hennessy is making quite an impact during his first and only season as a Cowboy. He won his first four races of the season and then automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 3,000m steeplechase. He is just a second away from qualifying in the 1,500m and the mile. In the mile at the Big 12 Indoor Championships, Hennessy finished just 45-hundredths of a second behind Big 12 champion Kevin McGinn of Kansas.
Lane qualifies for nationals in two events Nathaniel Lane started the outdoor season with a bang as he qualified for the national championships in the 10,000m his first time running it. Lane's time of 29:01.17 at the Stanford Invitational was good enough to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships as well as lead the Big 12 heading into this weekend's meet. Lane also provisionally qualified for the 5,000m with a time of 14:07.01, the fourth-best time in the Big 12.
Carlsen closing out career strong Like Lane, Ren Carlsen started the season quickly, qualifying for the national championships in the 10,000m during his first race. He ran the event in 29:08.31 at the Stanford Invitational on March 27. Last year Carlsen provisionally qualified for the 10,000m with a time of 29:27.41 at the Penn Relays. During his sophomore year, Carlsen finished runner-up in the 10,000m at the Big 12 Championships.
Young adding to outstanding career Brian Young, a senior from Tulsa, Okla., was an integral part of OSU's success in the indoor distance medley relay this past season, running the 1,200m portion of the race. At the Cardinal Invitational on May 7, he reached the NCAA provisionally qualifying mark in the 1,500m with a time of 3:44.23. Last season, Young earned the Big 12 indoor championships in the 1,000m, and he fell less than an second short of repeating his title.
Carlsen, Hennessy, Lane named Academic All-Americans In honor of their outstanding academic achievement during the fall, Cowboys Ren Carlsen, Andrew Hennessy and Nathaniel Lane were named cross country Academic All-Americans. The trio helped lead the cross country team to being named an Academic All-American Team. Carlsen improved his geography GPA to 3.33 with a 3.60 during the fall. Hennessy recorded a 4.00 for graduate studies in exercise science. Lane earned a 3.66 in the Master's of Business Administration program to raise his overall GPA to 3.52. Of the 28 athletes on both the cross country and track team last fall, 24 had over a 3.0 grade point average.
DMR finishes eighth, earns All-America honors OSU's distance medley relay team finished eighth at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 9:44.25. The team of Cam Katchuck (400m), Andrew Hennessy (800m), Chuck Sloan (1,600m) and Brian Young (1,200m) went into the NCAA Championships with the fifth best time in the nation.
Cowboys place at indoor nationals The Cowboys sent four athletes to the NCAA Indoor Championships in Indianapolis and walked away with a 56th-place finish. The DMR team finished eighth, and Chuck Sloan, who also competed in the 1,600m portion of the distance medley relay, finished 14th in the 3,000m with a time of 8:06.46.
OSU crowns two Big 12 champions, two runner-ups OSU walked away from Manhattan, Kan., with a couple of Big 12 indoor champions, two runner-up finishes and an eighth-place finish Feb. 20. Junior Chuck Sloan won the 3,000m title, and the distance medley relay team won the championship. Andrew Hennessy finished runner-up in the mile, and Brian Young came up short in defending his 1,000m conference title as he placed second. The Cowboys' eighth-place team mark is an improvement over last season's 12th-place finish.
Head Coach Dick Weis continuing strong tradition Head Coach Dick Weis is in his 16th season as the Cowboys' track coach and 11th season as their head coach.
In the late 1980s, Weis became only the eighth individual to coach men's track at OSU during its 98-year history. Weis has coached five individuals to All-America honors since taking over the track program duties in 1989. Overall, he has coached 38 individuals to All-America honors since coming to OSU from Missouri.
Most recently, Weis guided current junior Chuck Sloan to All-America honors in the 3,000m steeplechase last season. From 1995 to '97, he coached Wild, a current graduate assistant, to four All-America honors in track. Wild earned one in the 1,500m (1995), two in the 3,000m (1995-96) and one in the 5,000m (1997).
In the years since he came to Oklahoma State in 1983, Weis has produced some outstanding athletes. He has coached 53 All-Americans, four NCAA Champions, five NCAA runners-up, one world-record holder and one Olympian. Christine McMiken set the world record in the three-mile run with a time of 14:53.80. She also represented her home country of New Zealand by placing ninth in the 10,000m run in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea. Weis also has coached 21 individuals to world cross country selections.
Before coming to OSU, Weis spent from 1979 to 1982 as the track coach at Missouri. While there, he coached 26 All-Americans, including two-time Big Eight champion Sabrina Dornhoeffer (1982, '83), world-record setter Rosalyn Dunlap in the 600y indoor (1:18.56) and 1984 Los Angeles Olympian Pam Page.
Athletes to watch Ren Carlsen (Sr.; Odense, Denmark; 6'0") Named first-team Academic All-Big 12 - Named Academic All-American during the 1998 cross country season - Has met the NCAA Outdoor Championships automatic qualification mark in the 10,000m with a time of 29:08.31 - Also has provisionally qualified for the national championships in the 5,000m with a time of 14:15.40.
Gitogo Churu (Sr.; Muranga, Kenya; 5'9") Has provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 5,000m - Ran the race in 14:09.18 at the Cardinal Invitational - Is only 64-hundredths of a second away from provisionally qualifying in the 10,000m - Ran the event in 29:55.64 at the Penn Relays - Needs a 29:55.00 to provisionally qualify for the 10,000m.
Scott Gray (So.; Bend, Ore.; 5'8") Named honorable mention Academic All-Big 12 - Was a member of OSU's Academic All-American Team in cross country - Competed in the 800m dash and the 1,500m run - Recorded times of 2:03.21 and 4:08.86 in each event, respectively.
David Greenshields (Jr.; Stillwater, Okla.; 5'11") Named first-team Academic All-Big 12 - Was a member of OSU's Academic All-American Team in cross country - Was an integral member of the team - Produced times of 52.63 in the 400m and 1:55.18 in the 800m.
Andrew Hennessy (Sr.; Glastonbury, England; 5'11") Named first-team Academic All-Big 12 with a 4.00 grade point average last fall - Named Academic All-American during the 1998 cross country season - Has met the NCAA Outdoor Championships automatic time in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 8:39.71 - Is a second away from meeting the provisional qualifying mark in the 1,500m - Ran the 800m on the Cowboys' 1999 All-American and Big 12 Champion indoor distance medley relay team.
Tony Houchin (Sr.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; 6'0") One of six seniors on the Cowboy squad - Has competed in six events this season -Ran the 200m dash in 24.67 - Recorded a time of 53.18 in the 400m -Also has competed in the pole vault, long jump, shot put and high jump - Set marks of 3.55m, 5.69m, 7.37m and 1.62m in each of the events, respectively.
Cam Katchuck (Fr.; Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada; 5'10") Named first-team Academic All-Big 12 - Was a member of OSU's Academic All-American Team in cross country - Ran the 400m in the Cowboys' 1999 All-American indoor distance medley relay team - The team also was crowned the Big 12 Champions.
Nathaniel Lane (Sr.; Cardiff, Great Britain; 5'11") Named first-team Academic All-Big 12 - Named Academic All-American during the 1998 cross country season - Has met the NCAA Outdoor Championships automatic qualification mark in the 10,000m with a time of 29:01.17 - Also has provisionally qualified for the national championships in the 5,000m with a time of 14:07.41 - Set personal best marks in both events.
Ben Phillips (Jr.; Cleveland, Tenn.; 5'10") Named honorable mention Academic All-Big 12 - Was a member of OSU's Academic All-American Team in cross country - Set a personal record in the 800m with a time of 1:53.22 at the Tyson Invitational - Plans to graduate in May with a bachelor's in accounting.
Jerry Rainey (So.; Caney, Kan.; 5'11") Named honorable mention Academic All-Big 12 - Was a member of OSU's Academic All-American Team in cross country - Had knee surgery that temporarily put him out of competition - Competed in the 800m dash and the 1,500m run, recording times of 1:57.10 and 4:02.42, respectively - Also finished the 3,000m steeplechase in 9:43.02 at the Life University Invitational.
Chuck Sloan (Jr.; Billings, Mont.; 5'10") Set the school record in the 3,000m steeplechase with an 8:37.06 performance at the Cardinal Invitational - Is only 81-hundredths of a second away from provisionally qualifying in the 1,500m run -Finished the race in 3:45.81 at the Tyson Invitational, just short of the 3:45.00 needed to qualify.
Staffan Stegmark (So.; Kgerd, Sweden; 6'2") Named first-team Academic All-Big 12 - Was a member of OSU's Academic All-American Team in cross country - Broke foot during the cross country season but made a strong comeback in the 1,500m during the outdoor season - Best race came at the Tyson Invitational, where he finished in 3:57.70.
Brian Young (Sr.; Tulsa, Okla.; 6'2") Provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 1,500m - Ran the event in 3:44.23, the third-best time in the Big 12, at the Cardinal Invitational - Fell short of repeating his bid as the 1,000m Big 12 Indoor Champion - Finished the race in second place with a time of 2:26.16, just 86-hundredths of a second behind Kansas' Charlie Gruber.
Big 12 Championships Schedule of Events
Friday, May 21 11:00 a.m. Hammer Throw W 12:00 p.m. Decathlon, 100m M 12:50 p.m. Decathlon, Long Jump M 1:00 p.m. Heptathlon, 100 Hurdles W 1:45 p.m. Heptathlon, High Jump W 2:00 p.m. Hammer Throw M 3:30 p.m. Decathlon, Shot Put M 5:00 p.m. Heptathlon, Shot Put W Decathlon, High Jump M 7:10 p.m. Heptathlon, 200m W 7:35 p.m. Decathlon, 400m M 8:00 p.m. 3,000 meters W 8:15 p.m. 10,000 meters M 8:50 p.m. 10,000 meters W
Saturday, May 22 10:00 a.m. Heptathlon, Long Jump W Decathlon, 110 Hurdles M 11:00 a.m. Decathlon, Discus M 12:30 p.m. Decathlon, Pole Vault M Heptathlon, Javelin W 2:30 p.m. Heptathlon, 800m W 3:30 p.m. Pole Vault, Long Jump W 5:00 p.m. Decathlon, Javelin M Shot Put M Long Jump W 1,500 meters (prelims) W/M 5:45 p.m. 100/110 Hurdles (prelims) W/M 6:15 p.m. 400 meters (prelims) W/M 6:30 p.m. Long Jump M 6:45 p.m. 100 meters (prelims) W/M 7:00 p.m. High Jump M Discus W 7:15 p.m. Decathlon, 1,500m M 7:30 p.m. 800 meters (prelims) W/M 8:15 p.m. 400 Hurdles (prelims) W/M 8:55 p.m. 200 meters (prelims) W
Sunday, May 23 12:00 p.m. Javelin, Triple Jump M 2:00 p.m. Triple Jump W 2:30 p.m. Javelin W 4:30 p.m. Pole Vault M 5:00 p.m. High Jump, Shot Put W Discus M 4x100 Relay W/M 5:20 p.m. 3,000m Steeplechase M 5:35 p.m. 1,500 meters W/M 5:50 p.m. 100/110 Hurdles W/M 6:05 p.m. 400 meters W/M 6:15 p.m. 100 meters W/M 6:25 p.m. 800 meters W/M 6:40 p.m. 400 Hurdles W/M 6:55 p.m. 200 meters W/M 7:05 p.m. 5,000 meters W/M 7:45 p.m. 4x400 Relay W/M
