Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU Runners Fall Short of Finals at National Meet
June 07, 2007 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track
Oklahoma State's Joe Gray and Ryan Vail saw their outdoor season come to a close Wednesday night as the two Cowboy runners failed to reach the finals in their respective events at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Gray, a senior, finished 18th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to close out his stellar career at Oklahoma State. The Tacoma, Wash., native finished with a time of 8:48.79 in the race.
Cowboy assistant track coach Dave Smith says that despite missing the finals, Gray ran a very tough race.
“Joe came in here tonight and ran extremely well,” said Smith. “In order to advance to the finals, he would have had to run two seconds faster than he ever had. He ran very hard and made a late push, but just ran out of gas with about 200 meters left.”
Gray, who has been a model of consistency since he transferred to OSU from the University of Portland in 2004, was running in his second-straight appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
“I can definitely look back at my time here as a great experience,” said Gray. “I learned so much at OSU that I will be able to take with me. I know that there is still a lot of room for improvement and, hopefully, I can get right on that and be ready for (the United States Track and Field Championships) in a couple weeks.”
Vail finished 17th in the 5,000-meter run to close out his sophomore campaign at OSU. The Gresham, Ore., native finished with a time of 14:00.70, but a tactical error down the stretch might have cost him a shot at the finals as he finished less than a second behind the last qualifying time.
“I made a big mistake with about (1,000 meters) left to go in the race,” said Vail. “The pack made a big push and I fell behind thinking I could get back in it. Unfortunately, the last kick fell short. It was a tactical error that I should not have made, but now I can look back at this in the future and learn from it.”
Vail was also running in his second-straight national meet after qualifying as a redshirt freshman last year.
“If all goes as planned, I will have a unique opportunity to have three or four chances at (the NCAA Championships),” said Vail. “Not a lot of guys have the chance to do that in their college careers and it would be nice to take what I have learned and be able to get a few more shots at it.”
Gray, a senior, finished 18th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to close out his stellar career at Oklahoma State. The Tacoma, Wash., native finished with a time of 8:48.79 in the race.
Cowboy assistant track coach Dave Smith says that despite missing the finals, Gray ran a very tough race.
“Joe came in here tonight and ran extremely well,” said Smith. “In order to advance to the finals, he would have had to run two seconds faster than he ever had. He ran very hard and made a late push, but just ran out of gas with about 200 meters left.”
Gray, who has been a model of consistency since he transferred to OSU from the University of Portland in 2004, was running in his second-straight appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
“I can definitely look back at my time here as a great experience,” said Gray. “I learned so much at OSU that I will be able to take with me. I know that there is still a lot of room for improvement and, hopefully, I can get right on that and be ready for (the United States Track and Field Championships) in a couple weeks.”
Vail finished 17th in the 5,000-meter run to close out his sophomore campaign at OSU. The Gresham, Ore., native finished with a time of 14:00.70, but a tactical error down the stretch might have cost him a shot at the finals as he finished less than a second behind the last qualifying time.
“I made a big mistake with about (1,000 meters) left to go in the race,” said Vail. “The pack made a big push and I fell behind thinking I could get back in it. Unfortunately, the last kick fell short. It was a tactical error that I should not have made, but now I can look back at this in the future and learn from it.”
Vail was also running in his second-straight national meet after qualifying as a redshirt freshman last year.
“If all goes as planned, I will have a unique opportunity to have three or four chances at (the NCAA Championships),” said Vail. “Not a lot of guys have the chance to do that in their college careers and it would be nice to take what I have learned and be able to get a few more shots at it.”
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