TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Oklahoma State's men's cross country team, led by sophomore David Jankowski, finished eighth at the NCAA Championships on Monday giving the Cowboys their best national finish in ten years.
Jankowski finished 39th with a time of 30:34 to lead the Pokes. Junior Joe Gray, freshman Ryan Vail and seniors Mike Devenport and Sean McCabe rounded out the top five for the Cowboys. Gray finished 41st with a time of 30:35, and Vail finished 67th with a time of 30:56. Devenport finished 89th, and McCabe finished his Cowboy career by placing 119th. Freshman Matt Barnes-Smith and junior David Pomies finished sixth and seventh, respectively, for the Pokes.
"It was incredible. Our guys ran exactly the way we told them to," Cowboy assistant coach Dave Smith said. "Our guys were not recruited very highly by many schools, but they came to OSU, believed in our system, believed in their training and look where they are now."
Jankowski, a native of Idaho Falls, Idaho, says he treated the race just like any other race.
"I just wanted to relax and not push too hard through the first 5K," said Jankowski. "If you can do that, then towards the end of the race, other people just start tiring out."
The 39th-place finish by Jankowski was especially impressive considering that he is just eight weeks removed from returning from a stress fracture in his left heel bone.
"He ran an incredible race to top off an incredible season," Smith said of the sophomore. "Eight weeks ago, this guy was not even running, and today he finishes 39th at Nationals."
Wisconsin won the meet, while Arkansas, Notre Dame, Iona and Colorado rounded out the top five. Stanford finished sixth, Texas finished seventh, OSU finished eighth, Portland finished ninth, and Arizona finished 10th. Also, Kansas finished 14th, giving the Big 12 four top-15 teams.
The Cowboys, a team that was not even in the top 25 two weeks ago, finished with a team score of 355 to place in the top 10 for the first time since they did it in 1996.
Head Coach Dick Weis, now in his 23rd year of coaching at Oklahoma State, says that this team is the most impressive team he has seen at OSU.
"I could not be more excited about today's race, "Weis said. "Gray, who has been our top guy all year, was impressive. Jankowski ran a great race. Our guys don't quit, they never give up, and I could not be more proud of this team."