Cowgirls Finish Fourth, Cowboys Eighth in Historic Big 12 Outdoor Championship

Friday, May 14

Manhattan, KS

ALL DAY

Oklahoma State University

Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championship

Cowgirls Finish Fourth, Cowboys Eighth in Historic Big 12 Outdoor Championship

May 16, 2021 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

MANHATTAN, Kan. – In the final day of competition from the R.V. Christian Track Complex on the campus of Kansas State University, Oklahoma State track and field concluded its appearance in the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championship with a plethora of podium-level performances.

The Cowgirls totaled 87.5 points on the weekend, good for the fourth-place team finish. For the Cowboys, their 53 point total placed them eighth among some of the best teams in the country.

"I'm really proud of the way our team competed," director of OSU cross country and track and field Dave Smith said. "It's been a really, really long year for our team with running three national championships in less than three months. Having the cross country season pushed to the spring put a lot of stress and pressure on our student-athletes. A large part of our team is distance and middle distance runners, those athletes were the ones who ran those three championship season in such a short span. I can see there's a lot of fatigue, but I think both our teams, especially our women, responded well to the circumstances we were in."

The final conference competition of the 2021 outdoor season did not disappoint: 12 new facility records were set for Kansas State's R.V. Christian Track Complex, while the Big 12's best broke eight meet records during the three-day event.

"The meet was incredible," Smith said. "Incredible fields of athletes throughout the weekend, and the weather, especially today, didn't help. For the entire conference to run as fast as they did in driving rainstorms is kind of mind boggling."

Despite a soggy third day of competition that featured on-and-off rainstorms, the Pokes scored well in the conference finale.

As a result of the less-than-desirable weather conditions, Oklahoma State started its day indoors, as the women's high jump and men's pole vault were moved inside as is common for the vertical jumps events in inclement weather.

In the ladies' high jump, Saara Hakanen opened the day on the right note: she tabbed a runner-up mark with her 1.75m mark.

Shortly after, in the women's 4x100 meter relay, Nicolette Dixon, Aaliyah Birmingham, Christina Ollison and Brooke Givens combined for a 46.25 pace, good for two points, the seventh-place finish and a spot on the podium.

For Aaliyah Birmingham, her contribution to the All-Big 12 Cowgirl relay team was just the start of her day. From there, the sprints specialist senior raced in the women's 100 meters, where she clocked in at 11.42 and earned a fifth-place medal. With two Big 12 medals to her name, Birmingham laced up one more time for the women's 200 meters, where she ran a personal record time of 23.22, which earned her the bronze medal.

The women's 1,500 meters saw a pair of Cowgirls among its top three finishers. In third, senior Kaytlyn Larson clocked in at 4:26.51. Sivan Auerbach, the top Cowgirl finisher, earned the runner-up finished in a time of 4:26.02. The Big 12 Indoor Champion in the 1,000 meters can now add All-Big 12 outdoor honors to her impressive freshman resume.

In the men's 1,500 a posse of Cowboys contributed to OSU's point total. Alex Stitt (3:47.37), Isaiah Priddey (3:47.90), Kian Davis (3:53.13) and Sukhi Khosla (3:53.59) finished in sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively; Stitt, Priddey and Davis combined for six points.

Ashton Hicks followed up on his breakout performance from the men's 400 meter prelim yesterday with a fifth-place, 46.54 pace in today's final.

America's Brightest Orange was well represented on the women's 800 meter podium. First through the finish line was Stephanie Moss; her 2:05.83 pace – a career best for the freshman from Manchester, United Kingdom – earned her the silver medal. Not far behind Moss, Maddie Salek and Rilee Rigdon finished in fifth and sixth place, respectively.

As the meet began to come to a close with the men's and women's 5,000 meters, the Pokes continued to put up high-scoring performances.

In the women's race, Gabby Hentemann took the silver medal handily, racing a career best 16:00.55. On the men's side of things, it was freshan Ryan Schoppe who paced the Cowboys across the finish in 13:43.64. Joining Schoppe on the podium, freshman Alex Maier finished fourth with a time of 13:48.34 and Cowboy distance standout Isai Rodriguez rounded out the group in sixth with a 13:52.69 pace.

In the final events of the weekend, both the women's and men's 4x400 meter relay units put up point-scoring performances. Kalaya Ali, Christina Ollison, Tori Ortiz and Nicolette Dixon finished fifth in 3:38.03, while Ashton Hicks, Cooper Newsome, Cash Merutka and DJ McArthur also earned a fifth-place with their time of 3:07.19.

As the Pokes return to Stillwater with plenty of conference hardware, their attention will shift to the national stage. While conference championships come to a close throughout the country and regional qualifiers are finalized, Oklahoma State will have a week of preparation before sending its best to Texas A&M for the NCAA West Regional Preliminary on May 27-29.

Men's Individual Results

Decathlon
7. Max Braht - 6,590 points
    3. 100 Meters - 10.93
    11. Long Jump - 6.68
    9. Shot Put - 12.03m
    9. High Jump - 1.84m
    8. 400 Meters - 54.04
    10. 110 Meter Hurdles - 16.55
    10. Discus Throw - 31.09m
    8. Pole Vault - 4.31m
    3. Javelin Throw - 53.09m
    6. 1,500 Meters - 4:58.03
8. Jake Dyer - 6,570 points
    6. 100 Meters - 11.05
    5. Long Jump - 6.82m
    4. Shot Put - 13.21m
    10. High Jump - 1.81m
    6. 400 Meters - 52.80
    9. 110 Meter Hurdles - 16.19
    5. Discus Throw - 38.91m
    12. Pole Vault - 3.71m
    7. Javelin Throw - 46.02m
    11. 1,500 Meters - 5:06.04
9. William Edmonds - 6,512 points
    7. 100 Meters - 11.18
    7. Long Jump - 6.77m
    8. Shot Put - 12.34m
    13. High Jump - 1.72m
    10. 400 Meters - 54.16
    12. 110 Meter Hurdles - 16.74
    4. Discus Throw - 39.17m
    5. Pole Vault - 4.51m
    9. Javelin Throw - 42.64m
    7. 1,500 Meters - 4:58.56

Hammer Throw
15. Sam Mason - 50.53m

Javelin Throw
8. Max Braht - 56.52m

10,000 Meters
8. Victor Shitsama - 29:34.19
12. Adam Dayani - 29:54.51

1,500 Meters (Prelim)
5. Kian Davis - 3:44.38
7. Isaiah Priddey - 3:47.13
8. Alex Stitt - 3:47.51
9. Sukhi Khosla - 3:48.66
12. Alec Haines - 3:54.77

400 Meters (Prelim)
3. Ashton Hicks - 46.11
19. DJ McArthur - 47.58
24. Cash Merutka - 48.21

Shot Put
10. Torrey Hickel - 16.51m
12. Michael Releford - 16.42m

800 Meters (Prelim)
5. Juan Diego Castro - 1:48.06
15. Garrett Calhoun - 1:50.77
20. Triston Read - 1:53.00
23. Kobe Christiansen - 1:54.47

3,000 Meter Steeplechase
2. Ryan Smeeton - 8:45.77
6. Jonas Price - 9:01.21
7. Will Muirhead - 9:09.96
9. Bryce Quigley - 9:10.74

1,500 Meters
6. Alex Stitt - 3:47.37
7. Isaiah Priddey - 3:47.90
8. Kian Davis - 3:53.13
9. Sukhi Khosla - 3:53.59

400 Meters
4. Ashton Hicks - 46.54

800 Meters
5. Juan Diego Castro - 1:48.34

Discus Throw
12. Torrey Hickel - 49.11

5,000 Meters
2. Ryan Schoppe - 13:43.64
4. Alex Maier - 13:48.34
6. Isai Rodriguez - 13:52.69
13. Adam Dayani - 14:19.15
18. Will Muirhead - 14:48.20
19. Alec Haines - 14:52.07

4x400 Meter Relay
5. Oklahoma State - 3:07.19
(A. Hicks, C. Newsome, C. Merutka, D. McArthur)

Women's Individual Results

Heptathlon
6. Bailey Golden - 5,513 points
    5. 100 Meter Hurdles - 13.92
    10. High Jump - 1.63m
    4. Shot Put - 11.98m
    5. 200 Meters - 25.03
    3. Long Jump - 5.95m
    3. Javelin Throw - 39.92m
    7. 800 Meters - 2:28.78
9. Maddie Meiner - 5,271 points
    9. 100 Meter Hurdles - 14.53
    3. High Jump - 1.72m
    5. Shot Put - 11.80m
    9. 200 Meters - 25.58
    10. Long Jump - 5.41m
    7. Javelin Throw - 35.72m
    6. 800 Meters - 2:25.85
11. Megan Mann - 4,527 points
    10. 100 Meter Hurdles - 14.62
    12. High Jump - 1.45m
    10. Shot Put - 10.17m
    11. 200 Meters - 26.17
    11. Long Jump -5.20m
    12. Javelin Throw - 29.52m
    10. 800 Meters - 2:32:34

Hammer Throw
11. Hannah Bradford - 51.55m
14. Johnna Orange - 43.52m

Javelin Throw
1. Kelsey Kehl - 50.03m

10,000 Meters
2. Molly Born - 34:21.25

Long Jump
14. Saara Hakanen - 5.99m

400 Meters (Prelim)
11. Christina Ollison - 53.98
20. Nicolette Dixon - 55.85
22. Tori Ortiz - 56.34
23. Kalaya Ali - 56.35

Pole Vault
T4. Elissa Ray - 4.05m

100 Meters (Prelim)
5. Aaliyah Birmingham - 11.36
27. Brooke Givens - 12.08

800 Meters (Prelim)
3. Rilee Rigdon - 2:06.19
5. Maddie Salek - 2:06.87
6. Stephanie Moss - 2:06.96
15. Lilly Lavier - 2:12.97
21. Jayden Fiebiger - 2:19.49

400 Meter Hurdles (Prelim)
10. Michaela Travers - 1:01.33

200 Meters (Prelim)
5. Aaliyah Birmingham - 23.14
22. Brooke Givens - 24.52

Discus Throw
15. Erin Talbott - 37.91m
– Hannah Bradford - NM

High Jump
2. Saara Hakanen - 1.75m
10. Maddie Meiner - 1.66m
– Bailey Golden - NH

4x100 Meter Relay
7. Oklahoma State - 46.25
(N. Dixon, A. Birmingham, C. Ollison, B. Givens)

1,500 Meters
2. Sivan Auerbach - 4:26.02
3. Kaytlyn Larson - 4:26.51
9. Heidi Demeo - 4:34.50

100 Meters
4. Aaliyah Birmingham - 11.42

800 Meters
2. Stephanie Moss - 2:05.83
5. Maddie Salek - 2:07.68
6. Rilee Rigdon - 2:08.41

200 Meters
3. Aaliyah Birmingham - 23.22

5,000 Meters
2. Gabby Hentemann - 16:00.55

4x400 Meter Relay
5. Oklahoma State - 3:38.03
(K. Ali, C. Ollison, T. Ortiz, N. Dixon)

Men's Team Results

1. Texas - 173 points
2. Iowa State - 144 points
3. Oklahoma - 105 points
4. Kansas State - 88 points
7. Oklahoma State - 53 points

Women's Team Results

1. Texas - 207 points
2. Kansas State - 114
3. Texas Tech - 106.5
4. Oklahoma State - 87.5