Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU Athletes to Compete at US Olympic Trials; European Championships
June 27, 2012 | Cowgirl Cross Country & Track
June 27, 2012
STILLWATER, Okla. – Two Oklahoma State track and field athletes will try to earn a spot on Team USA at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. this weekend, while another pair will compete at the European Championships.
Cowgirl Toni Young is set to compete in the preliminary round of the high jump at the U.S. Olympic Trials on Thursday, starting at 7 p.m. CT. Young will be jumping in Flight 2, and if she were to advance, the final is slated for 7 p.m. CT on Saturday.
Young set the school record in the high jump at the NCAA Championships earlier this month after completing a jump of 1.87 meters/6-01.50 . She placed fifth at the meet to earn first-team All-America honors.
Recent graduate German Fernandez is scheduled to compete in the 1,500 meters. The semifinal race is slated for 6:25 p.m. CT on Friday, June 28, and the final race will be run Sunday at 6:37 p.m. CT.
Fernandez qualified to compete at the U.S. Olympic Trials after running a school-record 3:37.76 in the 1,500 meters at the Bloomington Twilight meet just hours before the cutoff to earn qualifying marks.
Two OSU runners are competing in the European Athletics Championships as well, which are hosted in Helsinki, Finland. Cowgirl Natalja Piliusina, from Kaunas, Lithuania, will run the 800 meters. The 800-meter semifinal is set for Thursday at 11:05 a.m. CT, with the final race slated for Friday at 1:45 p.m. CT.
She might run the 1,500 meters as well, with the semifinal to be run Saturday at 4:20 a.m. CT and the final race coming on Sunday at 8:10 a.m. CT.
Raul Botezan, from Cluj-Napoca, Romania, will be running in the men's 1,500 meters. The semifinal races will be run on Saturday at 5:55 a.m. CT, with the final set for Sunday at 12:50 p.m. CT.
Current Cowboy Girma Mecheso competed last week at the U.S. Olympic Trials, placing 18th in the 10,000 meters after running a 28:38.73 on June 22. He also ran in the 5,000-meter preliminary race, placing 22nd overall with a 14:11.95.
A pair of former Cowboys joined Mecheso in the 10,000 meters, as Ryan Vail placed sixth in the race after running a 27:52.53, and David Jankowski finished 20th with a time of 29:00.67.
