OKLAHOMA STATE CROSS COUNTRY NCAA Men’s Cross Country Champions - 1953, 2009, 2010, 2012 Media Relations Contact: Blake Zimmerman | [email protected] | O: 405-744-7714 | C: 918-406-6419 okstate.com | @OSUAthletics | @Run4Okstate | #okstate 2013 Oklahoma State Cross Country Schedule Oklahoma State Cross Country This Week 08/31/13 Hurricane Festival Tulsa, Okla. Big 12 Cross Country Championships 09/14/13 Bluegrass Invitational Lexington, Ky. Nov. 2, 2013 | Waco, Texas 09/28/13 Cowboy Jamboree Stillwater, Okla. 10/19/13 Pre National Invitational Terre Haute, Ind. 11/02/13 Big 12 Championships Waco, Texas 11/15/13 NCAA Midwest Regional Ames, Iowa 11/23/13 NCAA Championships Terre Haute, Ind. The Basics Success At the Big 12 Championships Oklahoma State cross country will travel to Waco, The Oklahoma State men’s team has won five Texas, this weekend for the Big 12 Cross Country consecutive Big 12 Cross Country Championships. Championships, which will take place on Saturday, Nov. Each time they have won the title, it has been by at This Week’s Meet Entries 2. least 13 points over the second-place team. Four times it has been more than a 25-point margin. BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS How to Follow the Meets Online, fans can follow the action live on Twitter by Last Time Out following @run4okstate for updates, or by using the Despite resting of two its three returning All- Men’s Entries (8,000m) hashtag, #Big12XC. Final results will be published on Americans, Oklahoma State men’s cross country still Kevin Colon www.okstate.com managed to take seventh place at the Pre National Invitational. Joe Manilafasha Meet Schedule The men’s squad, without All-Americans Tom Farrell Tommy Casey The men’s 8,000 meter race will start at 10 a.m., and and Shadrack Kipchirchir, were led by Craig Nowak, Craig Nowak the women’s 6,000 meter race will follow at 11 a.m. who took 23rd overall, finishing the 8,000 meter race in Neal Smith 23:53.60, which is the ninth-fastest time in OSU history. Chad Noelle (24:11.48) was the second Cowboy to Chad Noelle cross the finish line, in 48th, and All-American Joseph Taylor Monaghan Quoting Coach Dave Smith Manilafasha took 66th, with a time of 24:21.08. Kirubel Erassa On the women’s side, OSU took 20th as a team. Tom Farrell On the importance of the Big 12 Championships: The Cowgirls were led by a strong performance from Monika Juodeskaite, who took 13th overall out of 340 Brian Gohlke “I feel like this is when our season starts -- Big 12’s competitors, finishing the 6,000 meters in 20:28.95. Shadrack Kipchirchir first, Regionals and then Nationals. We want to win all Kate Kujawa was the second Cowgirl to finish, taking Shane Moskowitz three. The Big 12 is the first leg of that trio, so it is very 133rd, with a time of 21:41.59. important. Since 2005, the Big 12 has been the best Women’s Entries (6,000m) cross country conference in the nation, so if you can Last Year At the Big 12 Championships win the Big 12 meet, you have a great shot to win the The Oklahoma State men’s cross country team Anna Boyert national title.” earned 24 points and held off Texas and Oklahoma to Adela Hofmannova capture its fifth-straight Big 12 title, and the women’s Natalie Baker On competing at Baylor, and the challenges the team upset Texas to secure a second-place finish. course presents: The Cowboys - ranked No. 1 - took five of the top Monika Juodeskaite eight spots on the individual leader board, with Girma Gintare Zenkeviciute “This is new as far as the Big 12 Championships go, but Mecheso leading the way by finishing in second place Jenifer Dyer not if you’ve already raced at Baylor. They have hosted with a time of 23:58.1. Shadrack Kipchirchir (23:58.5) Kate Kujawa NCAA Regional Championships there before, and I’ve was third and Tom Farrell (24:00.6) fourth. Kirubel heard it’s a great course. It’s on a golf course, has great Erassa (24:06.0) finished in seventh place and Shane Kaela Edwards footing and it’s a fair course--not overly challenging, but Moskowitz (24:06.2) was eighth. Victoria Hanna fair. We’re excited to run there.” By finishing in the top 15, Mecheso, Kipchirchir, Far- Kristine Helle rell, Erassa and Moskowitz all earned All-Big 12 honors. Monica Lake On what it takes to win postseason races: The No. 27 Cowgirls earned 81 points and held off No. 14 Texas by 6 points to grab second place, improv- “A lot of it is about poise, and not letting the anxiety of ing on their third-place finish from a year ago. It was the THE COMPETITION the moment overtake what you do. It’s about staying Cowgirls’ best finish at the conference meet since taking Baylor calm, rational and focused while racing, and sticking to second in 2005. Iowa State the race plan. Again, it’s about not getting overwhelmed. Monika Juodeskaite led the way for OSU, running Usually, the team with the most poise has the best a time of 20:20.9 and finishing in fourth place. Natalja Kansas chance to win, in my opinion.” Piliusina (20:38.6) finished in seventh place. By finish- Kansas State ing in the top 15, both women earned All-Big 12 honors. Oklahoma TCU Texas Texas Tech West Virginia (Women) MEET NOTES In The Polls Oklahoma State in 2012-13 OSU men’s cross country remained No.1 in the Midwest Region for the 40th-straight USTFCCCA week, and moved to No. 3 in the nation. The Cowboys have been ranked No. 1 in the Cross Country Men’s Cross Country Midwest Region in each week since the inception of the USTFCCCA Regional Polls. Team Rankings • NCAA Team Champions On the women’s side, the Cowgirls are No. 3 in the Midwest Region, and they are the (Week Five) • Big 12 Champions Big 12’s second highest-ranked team. • USTFCCCA Men’s National Scholar Team of the Year Men • NCAA Midwest Regional Champions Champions In the Classroom 1 Colorado (6)* • Cowboy Jamboree Champions Fourteen Oklahoma State cross country athletes have been named to the Academic • Chile Pepper Invitational Champions All-Big 12 Cross Country Team for their success in the classroom. 2 Northern Arizona (5)* • Hurricane Festival Champions OSU’s 14 total selections rank second in the conference. 3 Oklahoma State (1)* • Dave Smith - USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year On the men’s side, five Cowboys were honored. Leading the way was Taylor 4 Oregon Monaghan, who was named for the fourth-consecutive year. Joseph Manilafasha was • Dave Smith - Big 12 Coach of the Year 5 BYU named for the third time (2010, 2012), Shadrack Kipchirchir and Kevin Colόn were each • Girma Mecheso, Tom Farrell Shadrack Kipchirchir and 6 Portland named for the second time (2012). Neal Smith was honored for the first time. Joseph Manilafasha - All-Americans 7 Wisconsin For the cowgirls, all nine athletes were first-team honorees. Kate Kujawa was named to the team for the fourth-straight year and Natalja Piliusina was honored for the third-straight 8 Iona year. Victoria Hanna and Monika Juodeskaite were both honored for the second-straight 9 New Mexico Men’s Track and Field year. 10 Columbia • Eighth Place at NCAA Indoor Championships (Highest 11 Tulsa team finish since 1984). Representing the Big 12 Well 12 Arkansas • Oklahoma State’s 73 points scored at the Big 12 Indoor Since 2001, on six different occasions the men’s Big 12 Champion has gone on to win 13 Stanford Championships was its highest point total at the confer- the NCAA title; Colorado in 2001, 2004 and 2006, and Oklahoma State in 2009, 2010 and 14 Syracuse ence meet during the Big 12 era and the second-highest 2012. That means the Big 12 Champion has won the national title almost every other year 15 Princeton total in school history, trailing only the 79 points scored since 2001. by the Cowboys at the 1982 Big Eight Championships. 16 Michigan • Five different runners with an indoor sub-four-minute 17 Eastern Kentucky mile, including four doing it in the same race. 18 North Carolina • Kirubel Erassa, Girma Mecheso and Tom Farrell 19 Providence finished 1-2-3 in the Big 12 Outdoor 5,000 meter final. 20 Boise State • Kirubel Erassa, Girma Mecheso, Kirubel Erassa and 21 Harvard Nick Miller earned All-American honors at the NCAA 22 Colorado State Outdoor Championships. 23 Notre Dame 24 Indiana 25 Washington Women’s Cross Country • Cowboy Jamboree team champions * - First-place votes • Hurricane Festival team champions • Big 12 team runner-up • NCAA Midwest Regional team runner-up • Placed first or second in every meet except the NCAA Championships. Women’s Indoor Track and Field • Natalja Piliusina won the NCAA Outdoor 1,500 meter championship, becoming the second OSU female to win an NCAA Outdoor title. • Fifth-place finish at the Big 12 Indoor Champion- ships was the best team finish for OSU during the Big 12 era and its highest finish at the indoor conference meet since the Cowgirls took fifth at the 1990 Big Eight Championships. • Piliusina set school indoor records in both the 1,000 meters and the mile. • Eight different Cowgirls combined for 12 All-Big 12 Indoor honors. Included in that group were Victoria Fratczak, Adela Hofmannova and Clara Nichols, all of whom garnered the first All-Big 12 honors of their respective careers.