Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Finish 30th at NCAA Championships
November 22, 2004 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track
With 1500 meters left in the race, senior Greg Rouault was between 75th and 80th place when he was hit in the stomach by another runners elbow. The shot to his mid-section knocked the wind out of him, forcing him to drop from the race.
Sophomore transfer Joseph Gray paced the Cowboys with a time of 32:33. He finished 98th overall. Following him were junior Sean McCabe, sophomore Brian Ehlis, redshirt freshman David Jankowski, and Sophomore Tyler Campbell. McCabe finished 118th while Ehlis, Jankowski and Campbell finished 128th, 132nd, and 171st, respectively for the Pokes.
“It was a disappointing day for us,” said Oklahoma State assistant coach Dave Smith. ”Scott had never run a bad race before this and the incident with Greg is very unfortunate because he was gaining ground on a lot of runners when he got elbowed.”
Despite the low finish for the young Cowboys squad, Smith did point out some positive aspects from the day.
“We are very young,” said Smith. ”We had some young guys that had never competed at this kind of setting before, but this team is only going to get better and this experience is good for next year.”
In team standings, Colorado finished in the top spot with an average time of 31:26. Wisconsin, Arkansas, Butler and Brigham Young rounded out the top-five. Wisconsin's Simon Bairu finished first individually with a time of 30:37.7.
