Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU Set for NCAA Championships
June 07, 2011 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track
June 7, 2011
The Basics
Oklahoma State's track and field program travels to Des Moines, Iowa this weekend for the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by the Drake University at Drake Stadium. The Cowboys and Cowgirls look to improve on an already impressive outdoor season, as two men and two women will compete for individual NCAA Championships. The meet is scheduled to get underway Wednesday, June 8, and wrap up Saturday, June 11.
Rewriting the Record Books
The 2011 outdoor track and field season has resulted in some of the best marks in Oklahoma State history. In just this season, the Cowboys and Cowgirls have claimed a total of 16 spots on the all-time top-10 performance lists and four school records.
Outdoor School Records Set in 2011:
Men's 10k - Colby Lowe - 28:45.91 - Stanford Invite
(Old Record: John Halberstadt -28:50.4 - 1972)
Men's High Jump - Taylor Buck - 7'0.25” - Arkansas Twilight
(Old Record: Rich Geske - 7'0” - 1975)
Women's 800m - Natalja Piliusina - 2:03.91 - Payton Jordan Inv.
(Old Record: Justine Craig - 2:04.61 - 1987)
Women's Triple Jump - Clarissa Andrews - 13.11m - Big 12 Champinships
(Old Record: Clarissa Andrews - 13.06m - NCAA West Preliminary - 2010)
Last Time Out
Oklahoma State competed at the 2011 NCAA West Preliminary Rounds last time out, as four athletes qualified for the national finals. Eight athletes competed on the men's side while six Cowgirls qualified for competition. Athletes who advanced to nationals included Colby Lowe (men's 10,000 meters), Tom Farrell (men's 5,000 meters), Natalja Piliusina (women's 800 meters) and Tone Hjalmarsen (women's 10,000 meters).
Athletes to Watch This Weekend
Several of the top collegiate track and field athletes in the country call Oklahoma State home. On the men's side, Tom Farrell and Colby Lowe are considered among the elite in NCAA competition. Both will be running at nationals this weekend. Farrell has a pair of conference titles, while Lowe has an individual title to his name. A pair of top athletes will also run for the women's squad. Natalja Piliusina, only a freshman, already holds the school record and the Big 12 outdoor title in 800 meters and competes at the outdoor nationals for the first time this week. Tone Hjlamarsen is a senior who will compete in the 10,000 meters. Her resume includes a personal record in her last race and a Norwegian national championship.
Success Expected
Success is expected at Oklahoma State. The OSU men's cross country program is fresh off back-to-back national championships in 2009 and 2010, as well as three-straight Big 12 championships. Those national titles gave OSU athletics its 49th and 50th overall NCAA championhips, more than anyone else in the Big 12 and No. 4 nationally. The Cowboy runners have also seen no shortage of individual success. At last year's NCAA cross country championhips, Girma Mecheso, German Fernandez and Colby Lowe all finished in the top 10 at seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively to anchor the Cowboys' team title. Tom Farrell was 29th overall and Johnathan Stublaski was 36th overall to round out OSU's scoring five. The Cowboys' scored just 73 team points, 120 better than runner-up Florida State, and recorded the fourth-largest margin of victory in the history of the NCAA Men's Cross Country Championships.
Mr. Smith
Oklahoma State Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Dave Smith is among the elite when it comes to collegiate running coaches. Smith is a two-time reining NCAA cross country coach of the year and a three-time reining Big 12 cross country coach of the year. He has coached his athletes to three NCAA individual track and field championships, two NCAA team cross country championships, 26 All-American honors, 24 Big 12 individual championships and 84 All-Big 12 individual honors.
