Oklahoma State Wins 2012 NCAA Championships, 3rd Title in 4 Years for Dave Smith
by: Mike Knapp for LetsRun.com
November 17, 2012
LOUISVILLE — Oklahoma State coach Dave Smith felt the team he brought to the 75th NCAA Division I cross country championships was the best he’d ever had.
With that in mind, he challenged them to run like it — and they responded. The Cowboys placed two runners in the Top 10 and posted a team score of 72 to convincingly win the title. It was OSU’s third title in four years and in the process erased some of the disappointment of finishing as runner-up to Wisconsin a year ago.
Oklahoma State switched places in the standings this year with the Badgers, who were second with 135 points, while Colorado was third with 158 points, Northern Arizona fourth with 191 and Florida State fifth with 238.
Oklahoma State Celebrates Again (click for full photo gallery)
“I’m proud of them, some guys came through big-time,” Smith said. “When you think you are the best in the race, it’s best to control your own destiny. I felt like we had the best team in the race and we needed to be in the front from the start and make it our race.”
With eventual winner Kennedy Kithuka of Texas Tech and Arizona teammates Lawi Lalang and Stephen Sambu setting what became a record-setting pace up front, OSU’s Girma Mecheso settled into a second chase pack and picked up the first team point in the race. Mecheso closed his career with a fifth-place finish and first American honors as he covered the 10K course in a time of 29:14.
“Our team was ranked number one and we have worked hard for this day,” said Mecheso. “My coach expects me to lead this team and set the pace. The pace was a little (quick) and I didn’t want to burn myself out so I saved it for the team.”
“Our coach went through everything preparation-wise, and he expected us today to show what we had and everything turned out good for us.”
Also posting a Top 10 for the Cowboys was junior Tom Farrell, who just five few weeks ago was the eighth runner on the team at the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival in his first race back since having his British Olympic dreams ruined by a stress fracture. Today he ran like the 13:15 5000 meter performer that he is and ran 29:26, which was good for a ninth-place finish.
Mecheso and Farrell were two of the 10 runners to break the course record, and both runners earned All-American honors, as did teammates Shadrack Kipchirchir and Joseph Manilafasha, who finished 18th and 24th, respectively.
Men’s Leaders 2012 NCAA Championships
Farrell said he didn’t begin feeling good until the Big 12 Championships and entered the day not sure as to what it would bring.
“I was aiming for a top 20, this has been a weird season for me,” Farrell said. “I did some strides before the Big 12’s and I hadn’t felt good until that day. Ever since then I felt back to normal, I was knocking out runs without any problems. Dave said all along it would click, but I didn’t believe that anything would come of it. I’m shocked.”
Wisconsin was led by senior Mohammaed Ahmed, the Canadian Olympian, who was eighth in 29:23.
More on the individual race to come.
QT#1: 3 out of the last 4 is about as good as it gets.
QT #2: What the hell happened to Stanford and Iona? Both teams were tied at #2 in the coaches’ polls. (We must add they were “only” #4 and #5 in the LetsRun.com Fan Polls). They ended up #16 (Stanford) and #30 (Iona). Stanford has been jinxed at nationals the last few years.
QT #3: The Ivy League had a good day with two teams at nationals with Princeton finishing 11th and Columbia #17. The Ivy League women had been carrying the banner for the league.
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Rank Team Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 *8 *9
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1 Oklahoma State 72 1 3 11 17 40 79 134
Total Time: 2:28:35.50
Average: 29:43.10
2 Wisconsin 135 2 4 5 36 88 168 175
Total Time: 2:29:34.30
Average: 29:54.86
3 Colorado 158 24 26 28 33 47 169 192
Total Time: 2:30:33.80
Average: 30:06.76
4 Northern Arizona 191 8 23 48 54 58 164 178
Total Time: 2:31:07.30
Average: 30:13.46
5 Florida State 238 14 21 45 55 103 158 188
Total Time: 2:31:37.10
Average: 30:19.42
6 BYU 245 7 25 62 69 82 154 207
Total Time: 2:31:35.80
Average: 30:19.16
7 Tulsa 247 13 32 59 71 72 107 113
Total Time: 2:31:52.90
Average: 30:22.58
8 Oklahoma 262 38 49 52 56 67 95 140
Total Time: 2:32:32.00
Average: 30:30.40
9 Texas 291 12 37 75 81 86 179
Total Time: 2:32:20.90
Average: 30:28.18
10 Arkansas 327 10 34 61 99 123 167 171
Total Time: 2:32:37.70
Average: 30:31.54
11 Princeton 358 31 43 57 106 121 130 204
Total Time: 2:33:12.80
Average: 30:38.56
12 Portland 365 19 42 89 96 119 177 182
Total Time: 2:33:09.30
Average: 30:37.86
13 UCLA 376 18 64 68 100 126 141 195
Total Time: 2:33:12.70
Average: 30:38.54
14 Virginia 382 15 51 76 85 155 201
Total Time: 2:33:23.90
Average: 30:40.78
15 Syracuse 406 41 50 70 94 151 156 174
Total Time: 2:33:57.00
Average: 30:47.40
16 Stanford 408 35 65 87 109 112 137
Total Time: 2:33:50.11
Average: 30:46.02
17 Columbia 439 44 53 77 127 138 173 186
Total Time: 2:34:07.50
Average: 30:49.50
18 Indiana 456 6 80 90 118 162 165 180
Total Time: 2:33:53.80
Average: 30:46.76
19 Georgia 466 73 83 92 93 125 142 176
Total Time: 2:34:30.00
Average: 30:54.00
20 Oregon 472 30 74 115 124 129 184 203
Total Time: 2:34:10.40
Average: 30:50.08
21 New Mexico 473 20 63 98 105 187 191
Total Time: 2:34:32.90
Average: 30:54.58
22 Virginia Tech 516 22 60 66 183 185
Total Time: 2:35:16.50
Average: 31:03.30
23 Michigan 518 78 97 104 117 122 152
Total Time: 2:34:52.30
Average: 30:58.46
24 Eastern Kentucky 522 27 29 110 160 196 199 200
Total Time: 2:35:16.60
Average: 31:03.32
25 Georgetown 534 46 102 111 132 143 159 206
Total Time: 2:35:04.00
Average: 31:00.80
26 North Carolina St. 550 9 114 135 144 148 170 208
Total Time: 2:34:51.80
Average: 30:58.36
27 Villanova 587 84 116 120 131 136 163 197
Total Time: 2:35:30.70
Average: 31:06.14
28 Notre Dame 590 39 91 108 150 202 205
Total Time: 2:36:30.30
Average: 31:18.06
29 Iona 626 16 133 139 145 193 198
Total Time: 2:36:05.30
Average: 31:13.06
30 Duke 725 101 146 149 157 172 181 194
Total Time: 2:37:16.00
Average: 31:27.20
31 Michigan State 755 128 147 153 161 166 189 190
Total Time: 2:37:27.70
Average: 31:29.54
| 1 | Kithuka | Texas Tech | 28:31.3 |
| 2 | Sambu | Arizona | 28:38.6 |
| 3 | Lalang | Arizona | 28:51.8 |
| 4 | Rotich | UTEP | 29:13.5 |
| 5 | Lelei | Texas A&M | 29:14.8 |
| 5 | Mecheso | OK State | 29:14.8 |
| 7 | Rooney | McNeese State | 29:21.3 |
| 8 | Ahmed | Wisconsin | 29:23.9 |
| 9 | Farrell | OK State | 29:26.3 |
| 10 | Chelimo | UNC-Greensboro | 29:29.8 |
LRC Individual Recap Texas Tech’s Kennedy Kithuka Makes it Look Easy Over Lawi Lalang & Stephen Sambu Lawi Lalang had all the attention coming in but Kennedy Kithukadispatched him with ease. Only one American in the top 10. Read all about it.