2024 Oklahoma State Athletics Year in Review

STILLWATER – Long known as one of the nation's most successful athletic departments across a wide variety of sports, Oklahoma State added to its history in 2024, a year that saw transformative change within the very structure of college athletics.

A look back at 2024:

Department-wide notes

Oklahoma State finished 19th in the final 2023-24 Learfield Directors' Cup standings, which evaluates success in all sports. It is the fourth consecutive top-25 national finish for OSU. Of Oklahoma State's 18 varsity sports, eight posted top-10 national finishes and 15 had top-30 national finishes.
For the ninth time in the last 11 years, Oklahoma State beat Oklahoma in the all-sports Phillips 66 Bedlam Series. The final score of 21-9 marked the largest margin of victory for either school in Bedlam Series history.
Counting only the sports whose seasons ended in 2024, Oklahoma State earned 46 All-America honors to match the school record for most All-America honors in a single calendar year (2023).
12 student-athletes across six different sports were recognized as College Sports Communicators Academic All-Americans to set an Oklahoma State record for most in a calendar year.
Anjelica Pfefferkorn (women's golf), Katie Lott (softball) and Sivan Auerbach (women's cross country) were honored with the NCAA Elite 90 Award for having the highest cumulative grade point average among all athletes competing at their respective sport's NCAA championship site.
In April, Alex Maier (men's cross country/track and field) and Maddison Hinson-Tolchard (women's golf) took home male and female scholar-athlete of the year accolades - the highest honor presented by the OSU athletic department to student-athletes.

Month-by-Month Highlights
January

Ollie Gordon II was honored as the winner of the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award to cement his status as the best running back in college football.
The Cowgirl basketball team defeated BYU, 82-50, for its largest margin of victory in a league game since a 41-point triumph over Texas Tech in 2017.

February

The women's tennis program won its first ITA Indoor National Championship and ascended to a No. 1 national ranking for the first time in program history. The Cowgirls held on to the top spot in the rankings for 12 weeks.
The men's tennis team beat No. 5 USC for its first win over a top-five opponent since 2020.

March

The OSU men's Distance Medley Relay squad captured its second consecutive NCAA title in the event. Brian Musau, DJ McArthur, Mehdi Yanouri and Ryan Schoppe won a tight race when Schoppe delivered an incredible final kick in the last 100 meters to deliver the victory.
Daton Fix became the first wrestler to win five Big 12 individual titles and the first from Oklahoma State to earn five All-America honors. He finished his career as a four-time NCAA finalist.
Oklahoma State became the first school to win four consecutive Big 12 equestrian championships. It was the program's 10th Big 12 title all time.

April

Steve Lutz was hired as Oklahoma State's 21st men's basketball head coach. A former assistant under Matt Painter and Greg McDermott, Lutz led Texas A&M Corpus-Christi and Western Kentucky to NCAA Tournament appearances prior to his arrival in Stillwater.
The legendary John Smith retired after 33 years as Oklahoma State's wrestling coach.
The Cowgirl tennis team capped a 27-0 regular season by winning the Big 12 regular season title. OSU later went on to win the Big 12 tournament title as well. Ange Oby Kajuru was named Big 12 Player of the Year and Chris Young was Big 12 Coach of the Year.

May

Four-time world champion and Olympic Gold Medalist David Taylor was welcomed as John Smith's successor as head coach of the Cowboy wrestling program.
The Cowgirl softball team won a memorable three-game series over No. 1 Oklahoma in Norman, then stormed its way through the NCAA Regional and Super Regionals to earn its fifth consecutive trip to the Women's College World Series.
The Cowboy baseball team beat top-seeded Oklahoma to win the Big 12 tournament title and later hosted an NCAA regional for the third consecutive year. OSU is the only school in the nation to host an NCAA regional in each of the last three seasons. It was the Cowboys' 11th consecutive NCAA regional berth – only Vanderbilt (18), Florida (16) and LSU (12) have longer active streaks.
Oklahoma State hosted the NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Championships at the Greenwood Tennis Center.

June

Oklahoma State's men's and women's cross country and track and field teams both finished in the top five nationally in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's Program of the Year standings, with the men placing third and the women tied for fourth. OSU and Arkansas were the only two schools to have both their men and women finish in the top five.

July

OSU sent a record 12 athletes to Paris to compete at the Olympic Games. The list is comprised of men's golfers Wyndham Clark (USA), Viktor Hovland (Norway), Alex Noren (Sweden) and Kris Ventura (Norway), women's track and field athletes Ariadni Adamopoulou (Greece), Chase Ealey Jackson (USA), Gabija Galvydyte (Lithuania), Ieva Zarankaite Gumbs (Lithuania), men's track and field athlete Jacob Fincham-Dukes (Great Britain), men's tennis player Aleksandr Nedovyesov (Kazakhstan), Grace Neville (women's soccer) and women's golfer Maja Stark (Sweden). Additionally, Cassie Mitchell represented Team USA in the Paralympics.

August

OSU and others welcomed newcomers Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah into the Big 12 Conference.
For the first time in program history, Oklahoma State sold every ticket for every home football game prior to the start of the season. The sell outs included season tickets for every suite, club seat and seat in the main bowl of Boone Pickens Stadium, as well as every student All Sports Pass, every three-game mini plan and every single-game ticket that was available for purchase.
Spanning from August into September, the Cowgirl soccer team established a program record by shutting out nine consecutive opponents.

September

Former Oklahoma State defensive end and College Football Hall of Fame inductee Leslie O'Neal was added to the Cowboy Football Ring of Honor during halftime of OSU's win over Arkansas. A two-time All-American and 1984 Big Eight defensive player of the year, O'Neal still holds the program records for single-season and career sacks with 16 and 34, respectively.
Lauren Bay (softball), David Edwards (men's golf), Ross Flood (wrestling), Charles Howell III (men's golf), James Wadley (men's tennis), Brandon Weeden (football) and the 1965 men's track and field relay team of Dave Perry, John Perry, Jim Metcalf and Tom Von Ruden were inducted into the OSU Athletics Hall of Honor.

October

After winning the 92kg division at the United States Senior World Team Trials in September, wrestling coach David Taylor brings Oklahoma State Cowboy Wrestling to the global stage by winning the bronze medal at the Senior World Championships in Albania. It was the sixth world medal of his career.
OSU announced the Boys from Oklahoma concert featuring Red Dirt Country Music standouts Cross Canadian Ragweed, Turnpike Troubadours, The Great Divide, Jason Boland and the Stragglers, Stoney LaRue and The Mike McClure Band. Originally scheduled as a one-night-only performance, demand was so high that two additional shows were added. It will be the first concert of its kind in Boone Pickens Stadium.

November

Brennan Presley became Oklahoma State's career receptions leader, surpassing the mark of 293 set by Rashaun Woods. Presley finished his Cowboy career with 315 receptions. Additionally, Presley became the first Big 12 player since 2011 to finish his career four seasons with 1,000 all-purpose yards.
Bryce Thompson became the 45th member of Cowboy Basketball's 1,000-point club as part of a win over Miami.

December

Justin Blackmon was inducted into the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame. In doing so, he joined fellow Cowboy Football Hall of Famers Lynn "Pappy" Waldorf, Bob Fenimore, Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas, Jimmy Johnson, Leslie O'Neal and Terry Miller.
Just 10 days after giving birth to her first child, Jacie Hoyt returned to the sideline and coached the women's basketball team to victory over Iowa State.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Maddison Hinson-Tolchard

Alex Maier

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