Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU Sends Throwers & Sprinters To Austin
March 26, 2014 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track
March 26, 2014
STILLWATER -- -
Oklahoma State track and field will travel to Austin, Texas, this weekend, for the Texas Relays, which will take place March 27-29.
How to Follow the Meets
Online, fans can follow the action live on Twitter by following @run4okstate for updates. Final results will be published on www.okstate.com. Live results can be found at http://branchsportstech.com/2014_Meets/outdoor/03-26-texasrelays/index1.php.
Meet Schedule
For Oklahoma State, action begins Thursday with the women's hammer throw. Every other event featuring an OSU athlete will take place on Friday afternoon.
Quoting Coach Dave Smith
On competing at the Texas Relays:
“This is a great meet, which is put on by people who do a great job. Texas has hosted all kinds of major meets, and they are always up to the task. We competed there last year for regionals, and it's a great site. I'm looking forward to it.”
On the expectations for those competing this weekend:
“It's no secret. We're looking to get some NCAA qualifying marks out of the way early. You do that by sending athletes to great meets with competitive fields. It's important to get big marks early in the season if you can. It can go a long way toward relieving some of the pressure that can build as the season goes on and people try to make it to regionals in the last couple meets.”
On the distance runners not competing this weekend:
“We have a couple meets coming up on the schedule that have always been spots to pick up qualifying times in the distance events, so we decided to wait for those. It's a balancing act. Many of these runners just came off a tough indoor season, where we did everything we could to achieve a conference title. We have to make sure to not burn them out. Some of them will compete this summer and then come back around and run cross country. It can be a delicate situation.”
Writing History
Oklahoma State men's track and field has a chance to make even more history in 2014.
With a top-10 finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, it would be the first time in OSU history to achieve top-10 finishes in cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field within the same academic year.
The Cowboys could become the first team in Big 12 history to sweep the cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field conference titles in the same academic year.
OSU is already the first team in Big 12 history with titles in both cross country and indoor track & field, accomplishing the feat in the same academic year.
Making A Mark In The Midwest
Oklahoma State's Dave Smith has been named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Midwest Region Indoor Coach of the Year, and Kirubel Erassa has been named the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Indoor Track Athlete of the Year.
Erassa has already been named the Big 12 Indoor Performer of the Year, and the USTFCCCA Co-National Athlete of the Week for the week of Feb. 24-March 1.
This is Smith's first Indoor Midwest Region Coach of the Year award. He adds it to his first Big 12 Indoor Coach of the Year award.
Smith is also the first coach in OSU history to win this award, and one of three coaches this year to be named Midwest Coach of the Year in both cross country and indoor track & field.
Erassa is the second Cowboy to be named Midwest Track Athlete of the Year, joining German Fernandez, who won it in 2009 in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
At The Top of the Hill
Tyreek Hill has been named the male Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Freshman of the Year.
Hill's honor comes after he broke OSU's 25 year-old 200 meter record twice in Ames, Iowa, on his way to winning the Big 12 200 meter title and qualifying for the NCAA meet in the event. He also broke his own school record in the 60 meter dash, taking second. He scored 18 team points.
Hill also joins German Fernandez as the second Cowboy to win Freshman of the Year. Fernandez took home that award in 2009, as well.
Started From The Bottom, Now They're Here
OSU's Big 12 indoor track & field championship was the first men's indoor conference title in school history. Before this, the Cowboys never finished higher than third, which they did at the 1982 Big 8 Championships.
Before this title, the OSU men finished 10th, 11th or 12th at the conference meet 12 times since the inception of the Big 12, in 1997.
The Cowboys are the first team in Big 12 history to win a Big 12 team title in both cross country and indoor track & field, doing it in the same academic year.
World Rankings
Two Cowboys finished the indoor season ranked in the top 10 in the world in their respective events after incredible performances at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
In the 200 meters, Tyreek Hill ran a school-record 20.57 to finish fifth in the vent. It is also the No. 9 200 meter time in the world. Hill accomplished this after one month of training and NCAA competition. It was only the second meet this season in which he ran the 200 meters.
In the weight throw, Nick Miller launched a mark of 23.07m/75-8.25, which was a personal record by more than a meter. His mark ranks No. 5 in the world in the weight.
Power Shift
Oklahoma State is an established cross country power, but after its second-consecutive top-10 NCAA Indoors finish, it seems another national power is growing. Here is a list of some schools OSU has tied or beaten in team scoring at the last two NCAA Indoor Championships:
- Alabama
- Auburn (Twice)
- Clemson (Twice)
- Florida State
- Georgia (Twice)
- LSU (Twice)
- Mississippi State (Twice)
- Nebraska (Twice)
- Penn State (Twice)
- Stanford
- Texas (Twice)
- Texas A&M
- USC (Twice)
- Virginia Tech (Twice)
In the Rankings
Oklahoma State has five athletes ranked in the NCAA's top 50 in their respective events.
On the men's side, Nick Miller leads the way at No. 3 in the hammer, after winning the event at the Tulsa Duels. Itamar Levi ranks No. 23 in the shot put after winning in Tulsa as well.
For the cowgirls, a trio of throwers who all won their events at the Tulsa Duels are ranked. Ieva Zarankaite ranks No. 11 in the discus, Chase Ealey sits at No. 12 in the shot put and Caitlin Way occupies the No. 16 spot in the hammer.
Last Time Out
The Oklahoma State men's and women's track & field teams swept team competition at the Tulsa Duels, in Tulsa, Okla.
The teams combined for 15 event wins—seven on the men's side and eight for the women. Both the men (4-0) and women (6-0) won each head-to-head scoring duel this weekend.
The Cowboys and Cowgirls did their main damage in the throwing events.
The men's and women's hammer throw events were held on Friday, and were the first events held at the new OSU track & field facility. Nick Miller picked up where he left off a season ago. He launched the hammer 71.30m/233-11. Miller was the only thrower in the NCAA to break the 70-meter barrier multiple times in the hammer, in 2013. Miller's throw is the initial facility record in the event.
Itamar Levi, an All-Big 12 performer in the indoor shot put, won both the shot put and discus throws. His shot put landed him at No. 4 on OSU's all-time list in the event.
On the women's side, Ieva Zarankaite (50.96m/167-2) won the discus, Chase Ealey (15.51m/50-10.75) won the shot put and Caitlin Way (58.06m/190-6) won the hammer throw. Ealey and Way were All-Big 12 outdoor performers in their respective events, in 2013. Way's mark is the initial OSU track & field facility record for the hammer throw on the women's side.
On the track, David Osborn (3:58.18) won the men's 1,500 meters, Brian Gohlke (8:32.18) won the 3,000 meters and freshman Brigham Hedges (5:59.11) won the 2,000 meter steeplechase. Also, the 4 x 400 meter relay team of Tyler Payton, Lance Gray, Justin Vilhauer and Ryan Wheatley won the event, with a time of 3:22.15.
For the Cowgirls, Adela Hofmannova (2:17.10) won the 800 meters, Ginatre Zenkeviciute (10:05.52) won the 3,000 meters and Bailey Johnson (1:03.88) won the 400 meter hurdles. Julia Schmaltz won the high jump, with a mark of 1.60m/5-3.
The women's 4 x 400 meter relay also took home a victory. The quartet of Britney Presley, Triana Browne-Hearrell, Cydney Crook and Ambra Wesley finished in 3:55.52.
A New Home
OSU track and field now has a new state-of-the-art facility to call home. The new complex was finished in the summer of 2013, and the teams have already started using it for practice. The complex is home to new locker rooms, a large team room and a large training room, among other brand new features for the teams to enjoy.
