OSU Track & Field Returns to Fayetteville for Arkansas Qualifier & Heads to South Bend for Alex Wilson Invite

Friday, February 21

Fayetteville, AR

11:00 a.m.

Oklahoma State University

Arkansas Qualifier

OSU Track & Field Returns to Fayetteville for Arkansas Qualifier & Heads to South Bend for Alex Wilson Invite

February 20, 2020 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

MEET SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES CT)
The Arkansas Qualifier will begin at 2 p.m. on Friday at the Randal Tyson Track Center. At the Alex Wilson Invitational, action gets underway at the Loftus Sports Center at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning.

FOLLOW THE MEET
• Follow along on Twitter: @run4okstate
• Live results: Arkansas Qualifier | Alex Wilson Inv.
• Final results & recap: www.okstate.com

FROM HEAD COACH DAVE SMITH
On breakout sophomore Juan Diego Castro:
"Juan is in the best shape of his life. He's ready to qualify for the national championships in the 800 meters, he just needs a good race to do it. Our goal is to run 1:48 and if he does that I think he will get in."

On 60m school-record holder Aaliyah Birmingham:
"Aaliyah Birmingham will run the 60 meters again. I think she's starting to dial in, she's really close. This is what she did last year, she just kept getting faster every week. So, she's going to try again and hopefully qualify."

On the men's 4x400-meter relay:
"The men's 4x400 has looked strong. If they can get down to mid 3:07 they probably have a great shot of getting in. It looks like it's going to be a pretty strong field [at the Alex Wilson] so we're excited about that."

On the women's 4x400-meter relay:
"Nicki is dinged up right now so we're going to run Gabija in a 400 at Arkansas and see what she can do. Michaela Travers filled in really well last week when we set the school record. Obviously I think Aaliyah and Christina have pretty well solidified their spots and Kalaya is in there running well too. We really have three of four women who could all fill in for the last spot and we're just trying to figure out who that's going to be."

THE BASICS
The OSU track and field teams will make appearances at the Arkansas Qualifier and the Alex Wilson Invitational this weekend. It's the final weekend for the Pokes before they travel to Ames for the Big 12 Indoor Championships on Feb. 28 and 29. Head coach Dave Smith said that this weekend is a good chance for some people to take another crack at qualifying for the national championships as well as a good tune-up for the conference meet next weekend. Last weekend, Ryan Roane broke the women's long jump record on day one of the Texas Tech Shootout. On day two, the women's 4x400m relay of Kalaya Ali, Christina Ollison, Michaela Travers and Aaliyah Birmingham set a new school record and the men's 4x400m relay of Cash Merutka, Ashton Hicks, DJ McArthur and LaKyron Mays ran 3:09.39 to clock in at No. 2 on OSU's all-time list and run faster than any Cowboy 4x400 since 1971. At the Husky Classic, Costa Rican national-record holder in the mile Juan Diego Castro shaved 2.92 seconds off of that mark to run 4:00.43 and finish eighth place overall in an elite field.

COWBOYS & COWGIRLS RELOADED
The OSU track teams return two indoor All-Americans from last season: sophomore Ashton Hicks (400m) and the 400-meter leg of the Cowgirls' third-place, school-record setting Distance Medley Relay, Nicolette Dixon. Hicks set the OSU indoor 400m school record as a freshman when he finished second at the Big 12 meet in 45.6. Other returning all-conference honorees for the Cowboys include LaKyron Mays (400m, 4x400), Juan Castro (800m, DMR), Garrett Calhoun ( 1,000m), Ryan Smeeton (mile, 3,000m), Victor Shitsama (5,000m) , Ayrton Ledesma (5,000m), Blake Scott (pole vault), Mace Metcalf (heptathlon), Sukhi Khosla (DMR), Isaiah Priddey (DMR) and Justin Long (4x400). For the Cowgirls, 60m school-record holder Aaliyah Birmingham returns. Taylor Somers is coming fresh off of her first All-American finish in cross country and will look to carry that over. Somers was all-conference indoors last year in the 3,000m and 5,000m. Molly Born earned her first all-america honors in the fall and will look to build on her All-Big 12 finish in the 5,000m last season. Pentathlon school-record holder Bailey Golden is back, along with All-Big 12 performer Ariane Ballner (Big 12-champ DMR team).

LAST YEAR AT A GLANCE
The OSU track teams is looking to build on last year's success. Last indoor season, the Cowgirl distance medley relay team of Molly Sughroue, Nicolette Dixon, Kaylee Dodd and Sinclaire Johnson finished third place at the NCAA Championships. Other indoor season highlights for the Cowgirls included Johnson's 1,000m title and Sughroue's conference crown in the mile. Jacob Fincham-Dukes ended his Cowboy career as an indoor All-American in the long jump with a school-record setting jump of 7.99m.