Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU Track Set For Big 12 Indoor Championships
February 23, 2012 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track
Feb. 23, 2012
STILLWATER, Okla. - The Oklahoma State track and field program will travel to College Station, Texas, this weekend to compete at the Big 12 Indoor Championships. The event will be hosted at the Gilliam Indoor Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M.
OSU comes into the indoor conference meet holding two of the top times by Big 12 athletes this season. Junior Tom Farrell has the best 3,000 meter time of 7:52.38, which he set at the Razorback Invitational, while sophomore Shadrack Kipchirchir owns the top time in the 5,000 by a Big 12 runner with a 13:46.00, which he set at the Husky Invitational. Farrell set the third-fastest 3,000 meter time in OSU history with his run, while Kipchirchir's time stands as the second-fastest 5,000-meter effort in OSU history.
The 2012 indoor conference championships will be the last for OSU seniors German Fernandez and Colby Lowe. The two decorated runners have combined for four Big 12 Indoor individual championships in their careers and have been honored as all-Big 12 indoor performers four times each.
The OSU men are coming off of a seventh-place finish at the Indoor Championships last year, which saw Farrell win the 3,000 meters and Fernandez win the one mile.
The Cowboys will also look to defend their 3,000 meter title, which an OSU runner has won each of the past four years. Former Cowboy Ryan Vail took the top spot in 2008, Fernandez won it in 2009, Lowe took the crown in 2010 and Farrell kept the streak going last season.
The Cowgirls finished 10th overall last season, but did bring home three championships. Sophomore standout Natalja Piliusina set a then-school record in her 800 meter championship performance. She also helped distance medley relay team to a first-place finish, along with current runners Caileigh Glenn and Mihaela Bobos, as well as former Cowgirl and current team manager Mihaela Susa. Susa also took the one mile indoor championship last season.
The action will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday with the women's pentathlon, while the preliminary rounds will start with the women's mile at 3 p.m. On Saturday, finals action will begin at 3 p.m. with the awards ceremony slated to start at 7:30 p.m.
