Pukstas Qualifies for 2004 Summer Olympics

February 23, 2004 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track

Oklahoma State senior Mindi Pukstas qualified for the 2004 Olympics with a time of 2:14.59 at the Motorola Marathon in Austin, Texas this past weekend, finishing 42 seconds behind the winner and good enough for third place.

The 2003 District V Runner of the Year will look to represent Lithuania when he competes in the games held in Athens, Greece this summer.

“We are very excited for Mindi,” said head coach Rene Sepulveda. “It is a big accomplishment to finish so well in one of the biggest marathons in the United States.”

Sepulveda coached Pukstas at Southern Methodist before taking the OSU women's head coaching job. This marks the second Olympic qualifier that Sepulveda has coached.

Pukstas was a two-time All-American at SMU before transferring to OSU, where he was selected to the All-American team in the fall. Aside from training for the Olympics, Pukstas also serves as a volunteer assistant coach for the women's track team.