Oklahoma State University Athletics
Athlete Spotlight: Girma Mecheso
June 06, 2013 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track
June 6, 2013
EUGENE, Ore. -
Girma Mecheso is going to try to pull off what OSU Coach Dave Smith says may be one of the hardest feats in sports—the 5,000/10,000 meter double.
Mecheso already earned first team All-America honors in the 10,000 meters, finishing seventh. Now, less than 48 hours later, he will compete in the 5,000 meters, where he finished second at the Big 12 meet to fellow Cowboy Kirubel Erassa. Smith usually doesn't let an athlete compete for two weeks after running the 10,000 meters—Mecheso is going to do it in less than two days. A perfect way to go out for one of the most decorated runners in OSU history.
The 5,000 meter final featuring both Mecheso and Erassa will take place today at 5:23 p.m. CT.
Personal Bests
3,000 meters - 8:04.04
5,000 meters (outdoors) - 13:34.83
5,000 meters (indoors) - 13:40.28
10,000 meters - 27:52.38
All-American
2008 Cross Country (16th place)
2009 Outdoor 10,000 meters (Seventh place)
2009 Cross Country (24th place)
2010 Cross Country (Seventh Place)
2012 Indoor 5,000 meters (Second Team; 10th place)
2012 Outdoor 5,000 meters (First Team; Eighth place)
2012 Outdoor 10,000 meters (Honorable mention)
2012 Cross Country (Sixth Place)
2013 Indoor 5,000 meters (First Team; Third Place)
Big 12 Champion
2010 Cross Country
SEC Champion
2008 Cross Country
All-Big 12 (Scored at Conference Meet)
2009 Cross Country
2010 Cross Country
2012 Indoor 5,000 meters
2012 Outdoor 5,000 meters
2012 Outdoor 10,000 meters
2012 Cross Country
2013 Indoor 5,000 meters
2013 Outdoor 5,000 meters
All-Region
2008 Cross Country (South Region)
2009 Cross Country (Midwest Region)
2012 Cross Country (Midwest Region)
All-SEC (Scored at Conference Meet)
2008 Cross Country (First place)
2009 Indoor 3,000 meters (Seventh place)
2009 Indoor 5,000 meters (Fourth place)
2009 Outdoor 5,000 meters (Third place)
2009 Outdoor 10,000 meters (Second place)
Oklahoma State School-Record Holder
Outdoor 10,000 meters (27:52.38)
Auburn School-Record Holder
Outdoor 10,000 meters (28:26.09)
Honors and Awards
2008 SEC Cross Country Male Freshman of the Year
2008 SEC Cross Country Male Freshman of the Week (Sept. 9)
2008 SEC Cross Country Male Freshman of the Week (Oct. 21)
2012 Second-Team Academic All-Big 12
2013 Outdoors: Started his outdoor season with a bang by putting up a 27:52.38 in the 10,000 meters at the Payton Jordan Invite. The mark was a school record, No. 10 in the world and is still the top mark in the NCAA this season … Finished second in the 5,000 meters at the Big 12 meet, running a 13:54.62 …. Automatically qualified in both the 5,000 meters (13:49.39) and the 10,000 meters (29:56.88) at the NCAA West Preliminary Round in Austin, Texas.
2013 Indoors: Earned the ninth All-America honor of his collegiate career with a third-place finish in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA Championships, running the race in a personal-best 13:40.28 ... That mark ranked second in school history ... His 13:57.06 in the 5K at the Big 12 Championships was good for a second-place finish and All-Big 12 accolades.
2012 Cross Country: The most dominant individual performer on Oklahoma State's Big 12 and NCAA Champion squad ... Placed sixth or higher in every race for which he suited up ... Took sixth at the NCAA Championships in 29:14.8 to earn the fourth cross country All-America honor of his career ... His 29:14.8 at the NCAA Championships was good for the fifth-best cross country 10K time in school history ... Was second at the Big 12 Championships in 23:58.1 to secure all-conference recognition ... His second-place finish in 30:26.39 at the NCAA Midwest Regional earned him a spot on the all-region team ... Runner-up at the Chile Pepper Festival and fourth-place finisher at the Cowboy Jamboree ... Honored as a second-team Academic All-Big 12 selection.
2012 Outdoors: Competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials in both the 5,000 meter run and the 10,000 meter run, but fell short of earning a roster spot in either event ... First-team All-American after running a 13:57.08 in the 5,000 meters to place eighth at the NCAA Championships ... Also earned honorable mention All-America honors in the 10,000 meters, though he was unable to finish the race ... NCAA Championships qualifier in the 5,000 meters and the 10,000 meters ... Placed seventh at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds in the 5K and was 12th in the 10K ... Secured All-Big 12 honors in both the 5,000 meters (eighth) and in the 10,000 meters (fifth) ... Set an Oklahoma State school record with a 28:16.97 in the 10,000 meters at the Payton Jordan Invitational, surpassing the 28:45.91 run by teammate Colby Lowe in 2011 ... His personal-best 13:34.83 in the 5,000 meters at the Stanford Invitational ranked him ninth in the nation and first in the Midwest Region during the regular season and his school-record 10,000-meter time ranked him seventh nationally and second in the Midwest Region during the regular season ... His 5,000 meter time is the third-fastest in school history.
2012 Indoors: Earned second-team All-America honors after placing 10th in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA Championships with a time of 13:57.28 ... Earned All-Big 12 recognition with a runner up-finish in the 5,000 meters at the conference meet ... His time of 13:50.03 set the third-best 5K time in the OSU record book ... Placed 12th in the 3,000 meters at the Big 12 Championships, running an 8:09.68.
2010 Cross Country: Secured a spot on the list of the nation's elite runners in leading Oklahoma State to NCAA and Big 12 team titles ... Earned All-America honors and was the first Cowboy to cross the finish line at the NCAA Championships when he took seventh at the meet in 29:47.5 ... Won the Big 12 individual title after finishing the 8,000-meter race in 23:56.94 ... Cowboy Jamboree individual champion in 23:46.17 ... That time stands as the fifth-fastest 8K cross country run in Oklahoma State history and is the eighth-fastest time in OSU Cross Country Course history ... It was the sixth-fastest time ever run at the Cowboy Jamboree ... Took fourth at the Chile Pepper Festival by running the 10K course in 29:21.06, a time that ranks him seventh on the all-time OSU 10K cross country list.
2009 Cross Country: Secured his second cross country All-America honor with a 24th-place finish at nationals in helping lift Oklahoma State to the NCAA team title ... Timed at 30:13.6 in that race ... Earned All-Big 12 and all-region status as well ... His 25:30 at the Big 12 Championships was good for a 14th-place finish and helped the Cowboys lock down their second straight conference title ... Crossed the finish line in 31:03 at the NCAA Midwest Regional to place 14th and help OSU to its fifth straight regional crown.
2009 Outdoors (at Auburn): Earned All-America status with a 29:12.99 in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Championships that was good for a seventh-place finish at the meet ... Took second in the 10,000 meters and third in the 5,000 meters at the SEC Outdoor Championships ... Clocked a time of 14:00.32 in the 5,000 meters at the SEC meet, after recording a time of 30:13.53 in a slow-paced final earlier in the meet ... Posted an NCAA automatic qualifying mark in the 10,000 meters at the Stanford Invitational, finishing fifth in the race with a school-record time of 28:26.96 ... His time ranked fifth in the NCAA during the season ... Qualified in the 5,000 meters at the Oregon Relays, finishing fourth with a time of 13:50.80 that ranks fourth in school history ... Set Auburn freshman records in the 5,000m and 10,000m outdoors and the 3,000m and 5,000m indoors.
2009 Indoors (at Auburn): Served as an alternate for the Distance Medley Relay team ... In his first race of the season, won the 5,000m at the Terrier Invitational with a provisional time of 14:01.14 ... Improved to 14:00.66 while placing fourth at the SEC Indoor Championships and earning SEC All-Freshman Team honors ... Also provisionally qualified in the 3,000m at the SEC meet, finishing seventh in 8:04.04 ... Improved in the 5,000m again to 13:59.56 while winning the event at the Alex Wilson Invitational ... His time ranks third in school history and was 23rd in the NCAA ... Placed 10th in the 5,000 meters at the Tyson Invitational in 14:25.89.
2008 Cross Country (at Auburn): Earned All-American honors at the NCAA Championships by placing 16th on the 10K course and helped the Auburn men finish fifth as a team ... Third-highest placing freshman at the national race and the first Tiger to cross the line ... Finished third at the NCAA South Regional (10K) with a time of 30:50.42 ... Won the men's 10K SEC Championship race, the first Auburn runner to accomplish the feat since 1985 and the first SEC freshman to win an individual title since 2006 ... Also broke the course record with a time of 23:11.26 at the league championship ... Named SEC Male Freshman of the Year ... Placed among the top five in three other races: fifth at Pre-Nationals (23:37.50 - 8K), third at the Tiger Invitational (22:55.52 - 8K) and runner-up at the Powerade Invitational (14:54 - 5K) ... Garnered SEC Male Freshman of the Week honors twice (Sept. 9 and Oct. 21).
Prior to Auburn: Placed ninth at the Foot Locker High School National Cross Country Championships in 2006 ... Finished ninth in the two mile run at the 2007 Nike Outdoor Nationals (8:56).
Personal: Born on Jan. 20, 1988 ... Son of Gelan Mecheso Tiyo and Atsede Deyso Jufar.
