Oklahoma State University Athletics
Soccer Tradition
The Oklahoma State women's soccer program is just over a decade old, but the strides it has made in 12 seasons have established Cowgirl soccer as a force in the Big 12 Conference and on a national scale.
From a winning season in its first year of existence in 1996 to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2006 and 2007, OSU soccer has progressed under a pair of coaches that have built the program from scratch.
Karen Hancock guided OSU soccer from its inception and has now passed the head coaching reins over to Colin Carmichael, who has been alongside Hancock on the Cowgirl coaching staff since '96.
Together that duo has led the Cowgirls to three NCAA Tournament appearances, a Big 12 championship (in 2003) and trips to the second round of the NCAA Tournament each of the last two seasons. Eleven Cowgirls have earned All-Big 12 Conference accolades, and OSU boasted the conference's co-player of the year, Yolanda Odenyo, in 2006.
Odenyo, who also became the first Cowgirl to ever earn All-America honors in '06, is also representative of the types of global recruits Carmichael and Hancock have begun luring to Stillwater on a regular basis.
The staff continuity, strong recruiting classes and OSU's commitment to upgrading facilities for all sports - including a planned multi-million dollar soccer complex - have the future of Cowgirl soccer looking bright.
"In our first year of starting the program we had to go out and get a bunch of walk-ons just to field a team," Carmichael said. "Now we have a first team All-American and teams that have proven they can win in the NCAA Tournament. We're proud of that, but we have higher aspirations of Big 12 championships and going farther in the NCAA Tournament."
The soccer team's drive to succeed carries over to the classroom. In 2007, the Cowgirls earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award for the sixth-straight year with a 3.39 GPA for the academic year, which marked the highest team GPA in the Big 12 Conference.
The Cowgirls have had 83 Academic All-Big 12 selections in their history. Odenyo become the program's first Academic All-American in 2006, and Niccole Grimaldi earned Academic All-America status in 2007.
From a winning season in its first year of existence in 1996 to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2006 and 2007, OSU soccer has progressed under a pair of coaches that have built the program from scratch.
Karen Hancock guided OSU soccer from its inception and has now passed the head coaching reins over to Colin Carmichael, who has been alongside Hancock on the Cowgirl coaching staff since '96.
Together that duo has led the Cowgirls to three NCAA Tournament appearances, a Big 12 championship (in 2003) and trips to the second round of the NCAA Tournament each of the last two seasons. Eleven Cowgirls have earned All-Big 12 Conference accolades, and OSU boasted the conference's co-player of the year, Yolanda Odenyo, in 2006.
Odenyo, who also became the first Cowgirl to ever earn All-America honors in '06, is also representative of the types of global recruits Carmichael and Hancock have begun luring to Stillwater on a regular basis.
The staff continuity, strong recruiting classes and OSU's commitment to upgrading facilities for all sports - including a planned multi-million dollar soccer complex - have the future of Cowgirl soccer looking bright.
"In our first year of starting the program we had to go out and get a bunch of walk-ons just to field a team," Carmichael said. "Now we have a first team All-American and teams that have proven they can win in the NCAA Tournament. We're proud of that, but we have higher aspirations of Big 12 championships and going farther in the NCAA Tournament."
The soccer team's drive to succeed carries over to the classroom. In 2007, the Cowgirls earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award for the sixth-straight year with a 3.39 GPA for the academic year, which marked the highest team GPA in the Big 12 Conference.
The Cowgirls have had 83 Academic All-Big 12 selections in their history. Odenyo become the program's first Academic All-American in 2006, and Niccole Grimaldi earned Academic All-America status in 2007.
