Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Cross Country Announces New Head Coach
October 04, 2006 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track
Dick Weis, who has served 23 years as the head coach of the men's cross country team and 17 years as the head coach of the men's track team, will remain head coach of the Cowboy track team.
Smith has served the last four years as an assistant coach for the track and cross country programs.
“I am thrilled about this opportunity,” said Smith. “There is such an excitement surrounding OSU right now and there is no other place that I would rather be.”
Smith takes the reigns of a cross country program that is ranked ninth in the country after an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Championships in 2005.
“Coach Weis and I have worked very well together for four years. We have a great partnership in the way we have run this program and, operationally, nothing really changes. We are going to do things that same way this year.
Before coming to Stillwater, Smith was the men's and women's head cross country coach at Texas Tech as well as an assistant track coach. Prior to his stint at Tech, he served as a volunteer assistant coach for the University of Washingon track and cross country programs.
Smith graduated from Michigan State University in 1993. He was the Big 10 Conference champion in the 10,000-meter run and was the conference runner up in the 1,500-meter run. He won All-Big 10 honors in track and cross country four times during his career. He also won the Big 10 Conference Medal of Honor in 1993.
Smith graduated in 1993 with a degree in fisheries and wildlife, and continued his education at the University of Washington, where he earned a Ph.D. in pharmacology in 2000.
“I want to see us continue to improve the way that we have been improving,” said Smith. “We want to continue the pattern of growth that we have seen here in the last few years. We want to continue to progress toward the ultimate goal of this program and that is to win a national championship. We want to win the Big 12 and we want to win nationals, and I don't think we are far from acheiving those goals.”
