Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Cross Country Travels to Minnesota for Regional Meet
November 07, 2006 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track
Leading the way for the Pokes will be senior Joseph Gray and junior David Jankowski. The two Cowboy runners were hampered by injuries earlier this season but both are fully recovered and know that a top-two finish in Saturday's meet would give the them an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
The Cowboys have gone through some adversity this season, losing standouts Ryan Ripley and Ryan Vail to injury, but head coach Dave Smith says that his runners know what is on the line and know what they need to accomplish to get back to the national meet.
“Obviously, losing Ripley and Vail hurt us, but that does not change our goals,” Smith said. “We have been slipping down the rankings all year, and our guys feel like they are not getting the national respect that they deserve after winning the regional last year and then finishing eighth at nationals. We still feel like we can get back to the national stage and improve on where we finished last year.”
Also running for OSU will be seniors David Pomies and Michael Breshears, junior Brian Ehlis, sophomore Alejandro Ruiz and freshman Daniel Watts.
Watts, a native of March Cambridgeshire, England, was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the year after his 13th-place finish at the conference meet two weeks ago. The Cowboys finished fourth at the meet in Lawrence, Kan.
Saturday's regional meet will kick off at 12:10 p.m. at Les Bolstad University Gold Course.
