Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU Announces 2014-15 Recruiting Class
March 17, 2014 | Cowgirl Cross Country & Track
March 17, 2014
STILLWATER -
Coach Dave Smith and the Oklahoma State Track & Field/Cross Country staff have announced the 2014-15 recruiting class, a group that combines for a plethora of individual state and national championships, school records and national team appearances.
On the men's side, leading the way is Cerake Geberkidane, from Denver, Colo. Geberkidane is arguably one of the best high school cross country runners in the nation. He won the Colorado Class 5A cross country state championship, setting a course record, and took third as a junior at the state meet. Geberkidane placed fourth at the 2013 Nike Cross Nationals. He ran his personal-best 14:46.50 at the Arvada West Cross Country Invitational, which is the unofficial Colorado state record. The race took place at an elevation of 5,000 feet and he won the race by 1:13. Geberkidane was a two-sport star in high school, exceling in soccer as well.
Chandler Austin joins the Cowboys from Boone, Iowa, bringing three Iowa state titles--two in cross country, and one in the 1,600 meters. He was state runner-up in the 3,200 meters. He also ran at the Nike Cross Nationals, finishing 29th.
Vegard Olstad comes to the Cowboys as a transfer from Western State Colorado University, and he brings some great credentials with him. The Gjovik, Norway, native won the 2013 NCAA Men's Division II Outdoor title in the 1,500 meters. Olstad also has an individual 2013 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference cross country title to his credit. He was a finalist in the 1,500 meters at the European U23 Championships in 2013 and was runner-up at the Division II NCAA Cross Country Championships in 2013.
“I'm pleased with the athletes we have joining the team this fall,” OSU assistant coach Bobby Lockhart said. “Landing a blue-chip recruit like Cerake Geberkidane is an outstanding pick-up for the program. Still new to the sport, Cerake has already competed and beat the very best high school athletes in the states. He's untapped and has tremendous upside. Chandler [Austin] is a pure cross country runner with a proven ability to train at a high level. He's gritty and as hard of a worker as they come. He'll certainly help continue OSU's cross country excellence. Vegard [Olstad] is a special athlete with the ability to run well on the oval and grass. Already an established collegiate runner, he's an athlete that will be an immediate impact to the team.”
The OSU sprints program continues its breakout season under new sprints coach Diego Flaquer, landing two elite male sprinters.
Tyler Jackson, from Claremore, Okla., is the top-ranked sprinter in the state of Oklahoma. He is the three-time state champion in the 400 meters, and also qualified for the state meet in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4 x 100 meter relay. His personal best in the 200 meters is a 21.58, and his personal best in the 400 meters is a 47.87.
Brandon Singleton, from Aurora, Colo., won Colorado state titles in both the 4 x 200 meter and 4 x 400 meter relays. He was also part of a team state track & field championship. He is a first team All-City, first team All-Conference and first team All-State performer. His personal best in the 200 meters is a 21.59, and his personal best in the 400 meters is a 47.49.
“This recruiting class is just the beginning to a great foundation for our sprint program,” Flaquer said. “We have great young men and women who were not only successful on the track, but also academically. They come from great families, and we are excited they are now part of the OSU family. My priority in building this foundation was to bring kids who exemplify athletic and academic success, while having great character into this program.”
On the throws side, Itamar Levi comes to Oklahoma State from Israel, where he was a national champion in the shot put. In 2009 and 2010, Levi set Israeli national junior records in the discus. Levi has already made an impact with the Cowboys, taking eighth at the 2014 Big 12 Indoor Championships in the shot put, where he threw the fourth-best mark in OSU history.
On the women's side, the 2014-15 class is loaded with talent on both the state and national levels.
Viktoriia Sadokhina comes to Stillwater from Samara, Russia, where she took second in the triple jump at the 2013 Russian Junior Championships. Like Levi, she has made an instant impact for Oklahoma State. Sadokhina won the Big 12 Championship in the triple jump, becoming OSU's first female jumper to win an indoor conference title. She won the triple jump at the Husky Classic, in Seattle, Wash., with a mark of 12.86m/42-2.25, which ended up being No. 24 in the NCAA, just missing out on qualification for the NCAA Championships.
Abbie Hetherington comes to Oklahoma State from across the pond, hailing from Carlisle, United Kingdom, which produced OSU stars Tom Farrell and Nick Miller. Hetherington won the silver medal in the 1,500 meters at the 2012 UK School games, which were held in Olympic Stadium, in London. She won five cross country races in 2012, and took fourth in the McCain UK Cross Challenge Series, in Cardiff. Hetherington won both the 800 meters and 1,500 meters at the Northern U15/U17/U20 Championships, and won the 1,500 meters at the England Athletics U15/U17 Championships.
Ida Oesteraas comes to Oklahoma State from Verdal, Norway, where she participated in the European Cross Country Championship in 2011. She won the Norwegian Junior Cross Country Championship 5 years in a row from 2008-2012 and also won 2 Norwegian Junior Championships in track. Oesteraas participated for Norway in the Nordic championship from 2009-2011, and won the Kondis' Golden Shoe for the best Norwegian junior girl in the long distance category, in 2011.
OSU has also picked up plenty of talent stateside, beginning with Jennifer Celis, a five-time state champion from Hotchkiss, Colo. Celis' titles came in four different events-- two in the 800 meters, one in the 400 meters, one in the 4 x 200 meter relay and one in the sprint medley relay. She holds four school records, and two Colorado state meet records—the 400 meters and the 800 meters. Celis has five combined All-State honors in cross country and track. She was also a part of two Colorado 2A cross country team state championships.
Molly Sughroue brings three state titles of her own from McCook, Neb. She was also a five-time conference champion. Sughroue holds four school records—400 meters, 800 meters, 4 x 400 meter relay and 4 x 800 meter relay, and she never lost a race in the 400 or 800 meters within the state of Nebraska in 2012 and 2013. Sughroue is a three-time All-State performer in cross country, as well as a 2013 conference champion in cross country, and holds the course record. She was also an All-Conference performer in basketball.
Also hailing from Nebraska is Anna Hurlbut, who went to school in Lincoln. She was a three-time individual Nebraska state medalist in cross country and was named to the 2013 Super State Cross Country team. Hurlbut is the school and home course record holder in the 5,000 meters. She was co-captain of her 2013 cross country team, and was named most valuable female runner twice. She was also an All-Conference performer in soccer and lettered for three years in swimming.
On the sprints side, Danielle Coleman, from McKinney, Texas, is a four-year varsity letterman on the McKinney North High School Women's Track & Field team. Coleman has made the UIL regional finals every year in her events. She placed third in the 2011 UIL Region Meet in the 400 meter dash and was a member of the State Qualifying 4 x 400 meter relay that year, as well. Last year, Coleman was the Area Champion in the 400 meters & broke her own school record in that event. Recently, her 4 x 100 meter relay placed seventh at the AAU Junior Olympics and the 4 x 400 meter relay placed third. Coleman also finished in the top 10 at both the 2014 Texas A&M and Arkansas High School Invitational in the 400 meters.
Stephanie Ferrante is one of the top female 400 meter sprinters in the country, hailing from Chardon, Ohio. She is a New Balance and Junior Olympics All-American in the 400 meters, and was the runner-up at the 2013 Outdoor States meet, in the 400 meters. She also had offers from Virginia Tech, Michigan and Penn State.
Brittany Stallings, from Okmulgee, Okla., specializes in the 200 meter and 400 meter dashes. Stallings is expected to add depth to OSU's 4 x 400 meter and 4 x 100 meter relays, as well. She was the state champion in the 200 meters, and was undefeated in that event in 2013. As a high school sophomore, Stallings broke her school record in the 400 meters. She also had offers from Purdue, Arkansas, Kansas, Kansas State.
Summor Fields is a sprinter from Fresno, Texas. Fields has been ranked by the Elite Youth National Ranking System in the 400 meters and has a time of 25.1 in the 200 meters. She has been a member of the varsity Hightower High School Track Team since her freshman year. She helped lead her team to district, area and regional championships running the third leg on the 4 x 100 meter relay, 4 x 200 meter relay and anchoring the 4 x 400 meter relay. In the State meet she helped her team win a third place bronze medal in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 meter relays. Fields received a medal all six times she appeared at the Junior Olympics.
Sarah Robinson comes to the Cowgirls out of Southlake Carroll High School, in Southlake, Texas. She currently holds her 300 meter hurdles and 4 x 400 meter relay school records. She won District titles in the long jump, 100m hurdles, 300m hurdles and 4 x 400m relay. Robinson was a Texas 5A State Championship qualifier in the 300m hurdles, along with being the USATF Regional runner-up and a USATF Junior Olympic semi-finalist in the 400 meter hurdles.
Ieva Zarankaite, a thrower from Utena, Lithuania, will join Coach John Baumann's throwers in Stillwater. She was a four-sport athlete in high school, competing in swimming, volleyball and basketball alongside track and field. Her current outdoor personal bests in the discus (51.36m), javelin (39.91m) and shot put (13.49) would land her in third, fourth and tenth on OSU's top-10 lists for those respective events.
“This is a pretty complete class with accolades across the board,” Smith said. “We have some great and decorated distance runners on the men's and women's sides, a couple state champion sprinters and throwers with success in multiple events. Adding that to the freshmen jumpers we have, who are already making an impact here, this is a class to be very excited about. This team has a great, young nucleus, and some of them will compete and contribute right away for us.”
