Cowboys Place Eighth At NCAA Cross Country Championships

Monday, November 24

Terre Haute, Ind.

9:00 AM

Oklahoma State University

NCAA Championships

November 24, 2008 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track

STILLWATER, Okla. - A serious Achilles tendon injury to Oklahoma State men's cross country standout German Fernandez with only 1,500 meters left in the race sent the second-ranked Cowboys from a probable top-three finish to an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships Monday in Terre Haute, Ind.

Fernandez, the 2008 Big 12 Individual Champion, joined teammates Ryan Vail and John Kosgei in moving up the pack throughout the race. The three had gotten up to the second wave of runners in the field when Fernandez injured his Achilles and went down. He did not finish the race.

"This was a tough break for us but this is how it goes sometimes," Coach Dave Smith said. "Ryan, German and John did a great job of moving up the pack and were in a good position when the injury happened. It's very disappointing, but that's how it goes. We were looking at a very high finish Â- probably second or third Â- but injuries are part of the sport and we have to accept that."

Kosgei and Vail both earned All-America honors by virtue of their finishes (Kosgei was seventh with a time of 29:33 and Vail was 18th with a time of 29:59). Oregon's Galen Rupp won the individual title in 29:04 to lift the defending NCAA champion Ducks to their second-straight NCAA team title.

Oklahoma State freshman Colby Lowe placed 63^rd with a 30:44.

"Colby was running well in the race but ran out of gas at the end and fell back in the pack," Smith said.

David Chirchir (106^th Â- 31:07), Matt Barnes-Smith (111^th Â- 31:11) and Daniel Watts (125^th-31:22) rounded out the Cowboy showing.

"It wasn't a good day for those three," Smith said.

Smith said doctors will examine Fernandez when the team returns to Oklahoma to determine his status moving forward.

"German will need a lot of time off, but we won't know how much time until the doctors look at him," Smith said.

2008 NCAA Men's Cross Country Championships Team Results

1. Oregon Â- 93 points

2. Iona Â- 147 points

3. Stanford Â- 227 points

4. Wisconsin Â- 229 points

5. Auburn Â- 264 points