Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Eye Top-10 Outdoor Finish In Eugene
June 10, 2014 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track
June 10, 2014
STILLWATER -
Oklahoma State track and field will travel to Eugene, Ore., this weekend, June 11-14, for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
How to Follow the Meets
ESPN3.com will broadcast events on Wednesday and Thursday, starting at 5:55 p.m. CT. ESPN U will broadcast Friday's events, beginning at 6:30 p.m. CT, and Saturday's events, beginning at 4 p.m. CT.
Online, fans can follow the action live on Twitter by following @run4okstate for updates. Live results can be found at ncaa.com, and final results will be published on okstate.com.
Quoting Head Coach Dave Smith
On athletes potentially getting too excited to compete:
“I think we have some experienced athletes who understand how to manage their emotions well, or they wouldn't be here consistently like they have been. On the men's side, we have a goal in front of us we can achieve. We're focusing on each guy doing what they have done all year, because if we do that, we can accomplish our goal of a top-10 finish. We don't need any superhuman efforts, just consistency across the board.”
On what another top-10 finish would mean for OSU:
“Finishing in the top 10 is a standard for us now. It's what we expect. Last year, we were top-10 in cross country and indoors, but missed it in outdoors. This year, if we get the top-10 outdoor finish, we will have done it at five of the last six NCAA events. Once we can establish ourselves and finish like this consistently in all three sports, then we look to take the next step and compete for the trophies. Going in the top 10 this weekend would be a step in that process.”
On Hayward Field as a host:
“Hayward has an extremely knowledgeable fan base. They recognize and get excited for big-time performances, whether they come from an Oregon athlete or not. They understand track & field, and it's fun to compete in front of a crowd like that. The fans are loud and tuned in to what's going on everywhere at the meet. It's rare in track & field to have a crowd like that. It's a fun way to compete.”
A Top-10 Trifecta
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.
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.
Historical Highs
Shadrack Kipchirchir and Nick Miller have made conference and national history with their performances this season.
Kipchirchir broke the OSU and Big 12 all-time records in the 10,000 meters, running a 27:36.79 at the Payton Jordan Invitational. It's the No. 1 time in the NCAA this season, and the No. 9 mark in NCAA history.
Miller threw the hammer a monstrous 74.37m/244-0 at the KSU Wildcat open, crushing the OSU and Big 12 records by more than two meters. His mark is also No. 1 in the NCAA. Miller bested that mark the next weekend at the Big 12 Championships, with a 74.38m/244-0.
Last Time Out
Oklahoma State's Nick Miller and John Teeters won their respective events at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field West Preliminary Round, in Fayetteville, Ark.
Miller, the No. 1 hammer thrower in the NCAA, registered a launch of 71.36m/234-1, which won the event by nine feet. With the victory, Miller earned his third-straight berth in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, and second-straight West region title.
In the men's 100 meters, Teeters backed up his top qualifying time by winning the event, running a personal-best 10.11. That mark moves him into the No. 3 spot on OSU's all-time list. Teeters will compete at the NCAA Championships for the first time.
Shadrack Kipchirchir earned qualifications in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Kirubel Erassa will join him in the 5,000 meters.
Monika Juodeskaite snagged the final spot in the 5,000 meters on the women's side.
Nationally Known
The Oklahoma State men's track and field team will enter the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship as the No. 8 team in the nation, according to this week's edition of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) outdoor rankings.
The Cowboys have now been ranked in the top 10 for five-straight weeks, which expands on what was already a school record.
The Cowboys will take four athletes competing in a combined five events to Eugene, with their eyes on becoming the first OSU team in school history with top-10 finishes in cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field, in the same academic year.
John Teeters and Nick Miller each won West region titles, with Teeters winning the 100 meters and Miller winning the hammer throw.
Kirubel Erassa and Shadrack Kipchirchir each qualified in the 5,000 meters, and Kipchirchir also qualified in the 10,000 meters--the event in which he holds the No. 1 time in the NCAA.
On the women's side, Monika Juodeskaite will compete in the 5,000 meters, after snagging the final automatic qualification in Fayetteville, Ark., at the West regional.
Last Year At The NCAA Championships
At the 2013 NCAA Championships, Natalja Piliusina made an incredible charge on the home stretch to win the women's 1,500 meter national title.
Piliusina became the second women's individual outdoor NCAA champion in school history, joining Jackie Goodman, who won the 10,000 meters in 1989. She is the 10th OSU athlete to win an outdoor NCAA title overall.
Piliusina (4:13.25) stayed in the middle of the pack for the majority of the race and was boxed in on the inside of the track heading into the final turn, but with a huge kick, she was able to fight to the front and win her first NCAA title.
Piliusina already had two runner-up finishes in the 800 meters to her name, and was disappointed with her 10th place finish in this event at the outdoor championships in 2012, but was able to get it done this time around.
Kirubel Erassa stayed in the coveted top eight for the majority of the 5,000 meters, but finished just out of the scoring positions, taking ninth, with a time of 14:00.31. He earned second-team All-America honors to go with his two first-team All-American awards he won in the indoor season.
In the men's hammer throw, Nick Miller just missed out on first-team All-American status, finishing ninth, with a throw of 64.83m/212-8.
Somebody's Watching Me
The USTFCCCA announced its Post-Conference Championships Men's Watch List for The Bowerman Trophy, with Oklahoma State thrower Nick Miller receiving votes on the list for collegiate track and field's highest individual honor.
The Bowerman Trophy, which was first awarded in 2009, is presented annually by the USTFCCCA to the most outstanding male and female collegiate track & field athletes in the nation.
Miller delivered a record-setting performance in winning his third consecutive Big 12 hammer throw title. His toss of 74.38m/244-0 at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships was an OSU record, a Big 12 meet and overall conference record and the No. 1 throw in the NCAA this season.
That distance also ranks among the top-25 hammer throw marks in the world this year.
Regional Reward
Oklahoma State's Nick Miller has been named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Midwest Region Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year.
Miller, a junior from Carlisle, United Kingdom, enters the NCAA Championships as the collegiate leader in the hammer throw, after winning the West Region and Big 12 hammer titles.
He has surpassed the 70-meter barrier at five different meets and has launched multiple 70-meter-plus marks at several of them – including four such throws at the Big 12 Championships. Only five other throwers have thrown 70 meters or farther during the 2014 collegiate season.
Miller is the third Cowboy to win a USTFCCCA Regional Track & Field award, and is the first field athlete to do so in OSU history. He is the second Cowboy to win a regional honor in 2014, joining Kirubel Erassa, who was named the Midwest indoor track athlete of the year.
The Competitors
Here is a breakdown on who will be representing OSU in Eugene:
John Teeters (100 Meters)
Coach Smith has recently labeled Teeters as Mr. Consistency, and for good reason.
Teeters has ran a 10.14 or lower at the last three meets in which he has run the 100 meters, and did it multiple times at both the Big 12 Championships and the West Preliminary Round.
Teeters' wind-aided 9.91 at the Big 12 Championships is the all-conditions school record at OSU, and his 10.11 two weeks ago in Fayetteville to win the West region title is the third-best wind-legal mark in school history.
Shadrack Kipchirchir (5,000 and 10,000 Meters)
Kipchirchir is going to attempt arguably the toughest double in track and field -- the 5/10. However, he has the credentials to do it. Kipchirchir's 27:36.79 in the 10,000 meters at the Payton Jordan Invite was a school record, Big 12 record, the top time in the NCAA and the No. 9 10,000-meter mark in the history of collegiate track & field.
In the 5,000 meters, Kipchirchir had the No. 9 time in the NCAA, and backed it up by qualifying rather easily at the race in Fayetteville. Kipchirchir could be the fourth male in OSU history to be an outdoor first team All-American in two different events at the same championship.
Kirubel Erassa (5,000 Meters)
The Big 12 Indoor Performer of the Year has brought his momentum to the outdoor scene. Erassa ran the No. 2 5,000 meter time in the nation at the Payton Jordan Invite, outrunning a handful of professional runners in the process.
At the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, Erassa doubled in the 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters, taking second and third, respectively, scoring 14 team points. He missed out on qualifying for the 10,000 meters by just two spots. He qualified for the 5,000 meters in Fayetteville, running a pretty conservative race and taking 10th.
Nick Miller (Hammer Throw)
Nick Miller is his name, domination is his game. Miller has been head and shoulders above his competition for most of the season. At the Big 12 Championships, all five of his marks, four of them 70 meters or more, would have won the title.
At the West Preliminary Round, Miller won the title by nine feet on a throw that was three meters off of his season best.
Only five other throwers have hit 70 meters at least once this year, and Miller has done it at five different meets. The USTFCCCA Midwest Region Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year and Bowerman Watch List vote recipient enters the competition ranked No. 1 in the NCAA.
Monika Juodeskaite (5,000 meters)
The 2013-14 season has been all about rising to the occasion for Juodeskaite. In cross country, she grabbed the final individual regional qualifying spot, and at nationals she ran the race of her life and became an All-American.
Juodeskaite was ranked No. 34 in the nation in the 5,000 meters entering the West Preliminaries, but captured the final qualifying spot and will race in Eugene. Perhaps another lifetime best is in the cards. She was an All-Big 12 performer in the 1,500 meters, taking fifth at the conference meet.
