Oklahoma State University Athletics
Thursday, April 27
Des Moines, Iowa
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Oklahoma State University
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Drake Relays
Photo by: Big 12 Conference
Cowgirls Complete Distance Relay Sweep
April 29, 2017 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track
Cowboys win DMR
DES MOINES, Iowa – Saturday capped a historic weekend for Oklahoma State as the Cowgirls completed their second distance-relay sweep, and the Cowboys gave OSU a team distance medley sweep at the Drake Relays.
Two years ago, the Cowgirls secured a distance-relay sweep and became just the fourth team to ever do so in the 108-year history of the Drake Relays. With wins in the 4X800-meter, 4X1,600-meter and distance medley relays this weekend, OSU completed the treble again, and is the first women's program to do so twice.
"We have a good group of middle-distance runners, especially on the women's side," coach Dave Smith said. "We've got incredible depth, great leaders and good young athletes. There's such good chemistry on this team and I think this weekend was one of the highlights of the season for us because it was so much fun for everyone."
Rainfall throughout the day slowed the track down significantly, but the Cowgirl quartet of Molly Sughroue, Ambra Wesley, Kaylee Dodd and Kaela Edwards still ran away with the DMR title by five seconds.
Sughroue opened up a 30-meter gap on the opening 1,200-meter leg and the Cowgirls didn't give up the lead after that, as Wesley and Dodd couldn't be caught on the 400-meter and 800-meter legs, respectively.
Edwards clinched the victory with a 4:46 mile-leg, fighting off a comeback effort by Air Force.
"I yelled to let her know she had run a 32-second 200 and I think she may have thought it was too fast and slowed down a bit," Smith said. "It's hard to pace yourself when you're all alone out there, so she let the Air Force girl catch up, but opened the lead back up pretty quick."
Air Force's Carina Gillespie closed the gap as Edwards shortened her stride on the third lap of the mile, but Gillespie couldn't take the lead as Edwards had plenty left in the tank and kicked into high-gear, opening the gap to 50 meters on the backstretch to give OSU the win in 11:18.20.
The Cowboys came away with a close win in the men's DMR, topping Minnesota by less than a second, and overcoming from a three-second deficit heading into the anchor-leg.
"It was one of those races where the first three legs seemed to not matter because everybody was right back together during that mile leg," Smith said.
Craig Nowak handed off to Anthony Grogan Jr., with just a half-second lead on Minnesota, but the Golden Gophers and Cyclones of Iowa State got huge boosts and just beat the Cowboys to the line for the exchange to the 800-meter leg.
Garrett Calhoun made his DMR debut for the Cowboys and his 1:52.27 in the rain set up Josh Thompson's mile-leg just four positions back from the lead.
"Josh was probably the best miler in that field, but that race turned into a 200-meter race because there was so much jogging," Smith said. "Running a race like that makes it risky because there are so many things that could go wrong when you leave it to the end, but Josh got it done."
Thompson picked off Iowa State, Ohio State and Minnesota, and held off a surging Illinois anchor on the homestretch for the victory in 9:57.86.
"It was a fun weekend for us," Smith said. "It's the perfect time of the year for a meet like this. We got to come out and just compete. We didn't have to worry about times and they were all running for each other."
In the women's shot put, Ieva Zarankaite recorded her second 50-foot throw of the season and finished second in the competition. Her 15.49m/50-10-foot throw moved her into the top-20 in the west region and replaces her mark from earlier in the season as the No. 4 throw in Cowgirl history.
In the 4X400-meter relay final, the Cowgirls finished seventh after Iowa was disqualified.
Next weekend's trip to Arkansas will be the final regular season meet for OSU, but the outdoor season is far from finished. The squads will head to the Big 12 Championships in Lawrence, Kansas, May 12-14, the region qualifiers compete at the NCAA Preliminary Rounds in Austin, Texas, May 25-27 and the season wraps up with the NCAA Championships June 7-10 in Eugene, Oregon.
Drake Relays | Des Moines, Iowa | April 29, 2017
Women's Results
4X400-Meter Relay Final
7. Oklahoma State Team A – 3:49.77
S. Ferrante, A. Coleman
D. Coleman, A. Wesley
Distance Medley Relay
1. Oklahoma State Team A – 11:18.20
M. Sughroue, A. Wesley,
K. Dodd, K. Edwards
Shot Put
2. Ieva Zarankaite – 15.49m/50-10
21. Katie Kehl – 13.02m/42-8.5
Men's Results
3,000-Meter Steeplechase
3. Ryan Smeeton – 9:07.26
Distance Medley Relay
1. Oklahoma State Team A – 9:57.86
C. Nowak, A. Grogan Jr.
G. Calhoun, J. Thompson
Two years ago, the Cowgirls secured a distance-relay sweep and became just the fourth team to ever do so in the 108-year history of the Drake Relays. With wins in the 4X800-meter, 4X1,600-meter and distance medley relays this weekend, OSU completed the treble again, and is the first women's program to do so twice.
"We have a good group of middle-distance runners, especially on the women's side," coach Dave Smith said. "We've got incredible depth, great leaders and good young athletes. There's such good chemistry on this team and I think this weekend was one of the highlights of the season for us because it was so much fun for everyone."
Rainfall throughout the day slowed the track down significantly, but the Cowgirl quartet of Molly Sughroue, Ambra Wesley, Kaylee Dodd and Kaela Edwards still ran away with the DMR title by five seconds.
Sughroue opened up a 30-meter gap on the opening 1,200-meter leg and the Cowgirls didn't give up the lead after that, as Wesley and Dodd couldn't be caught on the 400-meter and 800-meter legs, respectively.
Edwards clinched the victory with a 4:46 mile-leg, fighting off a comeback effort by Air Force.
"I yelled to let her know she had run a 32-second 200 and I think she may have thought it was too fast and slowed down a bit," Smith said. "It's hard to pace yourself when you're all alone out there, so she let the Air Force girl catch up, but opened the lead back up pretty quick."
Air Force's Carina Gillespie closed the gap as Edwards shortened her stride on the third lap of the mile, but Gillespie couldn't take the lead as Edwards had plenty left in the tank and kicked into high-gear, opening the gap to 50 meters on the backstretch to give OSU the win in 11:18.20.
The Cowboys came away with a close win in the men's DMR, topping Minnesota by less than a second, and overcoming from a three-second deficit heading into the anchor-leg.
"It was one of those races where the first three legs seemed to not matter because everybody was right back together during that mile leg," Smith said.
Craig Nowak handed off to Anthony Grogan Jr., with just a half-second lead on Minnesota, but the Golden Gophers and Cyclones of Iowa State got huge boosts and just beat the Cowboys to the line for the exchange to the 800-meter leg.
Garrett Calhoun made his DMR debut for the Cowboys and his 1:52.27 in the rain set up Josh Thompson's mile-leg just four positions back from the lead.
"Josh was probably the best miler in that field, but that race turned into a 200-meter race because there was so much jogging," Smith said. "Running a race like that makes it risky because there are so many things that could go wrong when you leave it to the end, but Josh got it done."
Thompson picked off Iowa State, Ohio State and Minnesota, and held off a surging Illinois anchor on the homestretch for the victory in 9:57.86.
"It was a fun weekend for us," Smith said. "It's the perfect time of the year for a meet like this. We got to come out and just compete. We didn't have to worry about times and they were all running for each other."
In the women's shot put, Ieva Zarankaite recorded her second 50-foot throw of the season and finished second in the competition. Her 15.49m/50-10-foot throw moved her into the top-20 in the west region and replaces her mark from earlier in the season as the No. 4 throw in Cowgirl history.
In the 4X400-meter relay final, the Cowgirls finished seventh after Iowa was disqualified.
Next weekend's trip to Arkansas will be the final regular season meet for OSU, but the outdoor season is far from finished. The squads will head to the Big 12 Championships in Lawrence, Kansas, May 12-14, the region qualifiers compete at the NCAA Preliminary Rounds in Austin, Texas, May 25-27 and the season wraps up with the NCAA Championships June 7-10 in Eugene, Oregon.
Drake Relays | Des Moines, Iowa | April 29, 2017
Women's Results
4X400-Meter Relay Final
7. Oklahoma State Team A – 3:49.77
S. Ferrante, A. Coleman
D. Coleman, A. Wesley
Distance Medley Relay
1. Oklahoma State Team A – 11:18.20
M. Sughroue, A. Wesley,
K. Dodd, K. Edwards
Shot Put
2. Ieva Zarankaite – 15.49m/50-10
21. Katie Kehl – 13.02m/42-8.5
Men's Results
3,000-Meter Steeplechase
3. Ryan Smeeton – 9:07.26
Distance Medley Relay
1. Oklahoma State Team A – 9:57.86
C. Nowak, A. Grogan Jr.
G. Calhoun, J. Thompson
Players Mentioned
Middle Distance
/ Cowboy Cross Country & Track
Middle Distance
/ Cowgirl Cross Country & Track
Middle Distance
/ Cowgirl Cross Country & Track
Sprints
/ Cowboy Cross Country & Track
Throws
/ Cowgirl Cross Country & Track
Distance
/ Cowboy Cross Country & Track
Middle Distance
/ Cowboy Cross Country & Track
Middle Distance
/ Cowgirl Cross Country & Track
Distance
/ Cowboy Cross Country & Track
Sprints
/ Cowgirl Cross Country & Track
Throws
/ Cowgirl Cross Country & TrackTuesday, July 28
Monday, July 27
Tuesday, July 07
Tuesday, July 07
