Miller, Geberkidane Win Titles on Opening Day of Big 12 Championships

May 13, 2016 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

FORT WORTH, Texas – British champion Nick Miller made his long-anticipated season debut and set a new Big 12 hammer throw record Friday en route to winning the hammer throw title, and Cerake Geberkidane won his second Big 12 title of the year by taking the 10,000-meter run under the lights at Lowdon Track in Fort Worth, Texas.

With his first attempt of the season, Miller launched the hammer 74.58m/244-8 feet to top his own meet record, then he threw a 74.81m/245-5 foot mark in his final attempt of the day to clinch the championship by 36 feet.

Miller has been on the Bowerman Award shortlist all year despite this being his first taste of competition in the 2015-16 season. With his mark today, he is No. 2 in the NCAA and leads the West by two feet.

The 2015 British champion completes his conference championships career with seven Big 12 titles including a career sweep of the hammer throw titles, taking all four during his Cowboy tenure.

In the last race of the evening, Geberkidane controlled the 10,000-meter run, winning the race by three seconds and crossing the finish line in 30.13.43.

"Obviously it's nice walking away with a conference championship," men's middle distance coach Bobby Lockhart said. "We told him to wait until the last moment to take the lead, but he opened it up early and was able to shut it down with about 50 meters to go."

The two-time Big 12 champion stayed with the lead pack for the first four miles of the race, then made it a one-man show, opening up a 50-meter gap between himself and second place.

"I felt well trained, well rested and relaxed going into the race," Geberkidane said. "I knew the 10K was 25 laps, so I just kept telling myself to stay focused. I went out with a kind of tempo effort, and I was comfortable with that. When I made my move, I just decided this was it, and I was going after the title."

Vegard Oelstad managed to make a comeback in the waning stages of the race to finish eighth and score a point for the Pokes in the 10,000 as well.

"He wasn't having his best day, but he rallied at the end and that's always great to see," Lockhart said.

Senior Monika Juodeskaite cemented her Cowgirl legacy with a third-place finish in the women's 10,000.

It was the decorated Cowgirl's ninth time scoring at a conference meet and fourth outdoor all-conference honor.

"She ran a gutsy race," Lockhart said. "She's had a few mishaps, but she's been a great competitor, so it was nice to see her get third as a senior."

Chase Ealey opened the scoring for the Cowgirls in the first event of the day. She finished seventh in the hammer throw after coming into the competition ranked eighth in the conference.

The all-conference honor is her third of the year and 10th in her OSU career. Ealey will go for 11 honors in her primary event, the shot put, Saturday afternoon where she is ranked No. 1 in the Big 12.

In his first conference championship competition as a Cowboy, walk-on freshman Wesley Hallof scored a point and finished eighth in the javelin throw.

"I'm pretty ecstatic," Hallof said. "I wasn't expecting it at all. They even messed up on me a couple of times – I threw eight times instead of six. It just shows, like my coach told me, my hard work is paying off."

Cole Verble set himself up for day two of the meet with a big first day that included two personal bests in the decathlon events.

The sophomore ran the 100-meter dash in 11.82 and jumped a 6.40m/21.00 in the long jump. After the first five events, Verble sits in 10th with five to go.

In the heptathlon, Triana Browne-Hearrell's 25.06 in the 200 earned her 881 points and she ended the first day of competition with 2,712 total. She sits in 10th going into the final three events.

"The multi-athletes did well," sprints coach Diego Flaquer said. "We were a few points off from where we wanted to be, but we'll come back tomorrow and try to get into a position to score."

After one day, the Cowboys sit in fourth with 22 points and the Cowgirls are also in fourth with 8.

Saturday is shaping up to be a busy day for OSU with every running preliminary scheduled for the afternoon, beginning at 5:30, as well as the remaining multi-events and shot put, long jump and women's pole vault finals, which start at 10 a.m.

To keep up with the meet, follow @run4okstate on Twitter and get live results at big12sports.com.

2016 Big 12 Outdoor Championships | May 13, 2016 | Fort Worth, Texas

Women's Results

10,000 Meters
3. Monika Juodeskaite – 35:06.71
16. Natalie Baker – 38:31.01

Hammer Throw
7. Chase Ealey – 55.13m/180-10
10. Aina Maartensson – 53.60m/175-10
13. Baylor Nelson – 45.68m/149-10

Heptathlon (Day One)
10. Triana Browne-Hearrell: 2,712 pts.
9. 100m Hurdles – 15.82
8. High Jump – 1.46m/4-9.5
8. Shot Put – 9.82m/32-2.75
2. 200 Meters – 25.06

Men's Results

10,000 Meters
1. Cerake Geberkidane – 30:13.43
8. Vegard Oelstad – 31:23.86

Hammer Throw
1. Nick Miller – 74.81m/245-5

Javelin Throw
8. Wesley Hallof – 52.18m/171-2.5
10. Sean Casey – 48.32m/158-6

Decathlon (Day One)
10. Cole Verble: 3,137 pts.
10. 100 Meters – 11.82
7. Long Jump – 6.40m/21.00
8. Shot Put – 11.25m/36-11.00
6. High Jump – 1.81m/5-11.25
10. 400 Meters – 55.28

Women's Team Scores
1. Kansas – 21 pts.
2. Oklahoma – 20
3. Kansas State – 11
4. Iowa State – 8
4. Oklahoma State – 8
4. Texas – 8
7. Texas Tech – 2

Men's Team Scores
1. Oklahoma – 41 pts.
2. Kansas – 33
3. Kansas State – 28
4. Oklahoma State – 22
5. Texas – 16
6. Texas Tech – 8
7. TCU – 6
8. Iowa State – 2