Lockhart Returns as Assistant Coach for the Sooners

NORMAN, Okla. -- Bobby Lockhart, 24, a former standout distance runner at the University of Wisconsin and high school national athlete of the year, was hired as an assistant track and field coach by the University of Oklahoma today.

 

Lockhart had been volunteering with the Sooners since the beginning of the 2007 outdoor season, helping the OU men's team win its first Big 12 Outdoor Championship title.

 

"Bobby joined us as a volunteer between seasons," Smith said, "and demonstrated a distinctive leadership that the other assistants and I believe will make him a great coach. His presence among our team always translated into positive outcomes, so I am very pleased to reward him with this position."

 

Lockhart helped the Badgers win a national cross country championship in 2005 after finishing runner-up three consecutive years. He was also part of 11 Big Ten championship-winning cross country, indoor track and outdoor track teams.

 

Twice an NCAA All-American at Wisconsin, Lockhart earned recognition once each in cross country and outdoor track (10,000-meter run). He was twice named to the All-Big Ten Conference Cross Country Team.

 

Bursting onto the scene as one of the nation's most talented high school distance runners, Lockhart was a member of Team USA at the 2002 World Cross Country Championships. He was named a Nike Athlete of the Year after winning the mile run at the Nike Indoor Nationals and two-mile run at the Adidas Outdoor Classic.

 

Lockhart was runner-up at the 2001 Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships and won 19 state titles in Virginia, including a record four in cross country.

 

Lockhart, a native of Winchester, Va., graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 2007.