Published: May 04, 2008 12:01 am            

Oklahoma State Notebook

Golfers sweep awards

IRVING, Texas — Oklahoma State’s men’s golf team swept the 2008 Big 12 Conference awards with freshman Rickie Fowler named the league’s player and newcomer of the year and head coach Mike McGraw claiming his second consecutive coach of the year honor.

The top-ranked player in the country, Fowler earned his second victory of the season last weekend at the Big 12 Championship. Fowler has finished in the top 10 in each of his nine career starts and was recently tabbed as a semifinalist for the Ben Hogan Award as well as a member of the U.S. Palmer Cup squad.

A unanimous pick for both awards, Fowler ‘s selection as player of the year marks the eighth time in the 12-year history of the league a Cowboy has earned the distinction. The Murrieta, Calif., native is also the fourth OSU player to be tabbed as the league’s top newcomer.

Fowler is the first freshman to receive both accolades from the league since Texas’ David Gossett claimed both honors in 1999.

In his third season as OSU’s head coach, McGraw directed the Cowboys to a 20-stroke victory at last week’s Big 12 Championship. The victory gave OSU its second consecutive conference title and was the 51st in the 62-year history of the program.

Joining Fowler on the all-conference squad were junior Trent Leon and freshman Kevin Tway.

Leon, a native of Dallas, earned his first career win earlier this spring at the U.S. Collegiate and has played in every event this season for the Cowboys. In addition to his victory, Leon has finished in the top 20 on five other occasions.

Tway has also competed in every event this season and is coming off his best career finish after a second-place showing at the Big 12 Championship. A native of Edmond, Tway also earned a top 10 earlier this season at the Olympia Field/Fighting Illini Invitational, finishing sixth.

The Cowboys will be back in action on May 10-11 when they travel to Ardmore to take part in The Maxwell.



Grand slam dooms Cowgirls

LUBBOCK, Texas — Jennifer Bowers hit a bases-loaded home run with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning to push Texas Tech by Oklahoma State, 5-3, in Big 12 softball on Saturday.

The Cowgirls, 25-24 overall and 8-9 in league games, took a 1-0 lead in the third on Kim Kaye’s solo homer, her 14th of the season and the 27th of her career. The homer tied her with Courtney Totte for the most home runs in a single season by a Cowgirl and tied Jaime Foutch for the career home runs record in school history.

The visitors made it 3-0 in the fourth on a two-run single by Katelyn Bright.

O-State appeared to have the game under control when, with runners on second and third, pitcher Anna Whiddon forced Montana Patin to pop up to the shortstop for the second out of the inning. But, a walk issued to Jennifer Corkin preceded Bowers’ grand slam over the centerfield wall.

Freshman Sarah Odom came in and gave up another Red Raider run on a walk, two singles and a hits batsman. Fellow freshman Amanda Crabtree relieved Odom and struck out Leah Legler looking with the bases loaded.

Tech improved to 22-34 overall and 8-9 in Big 12 play. The winner of today’s game, scheduled for noon at Rocky Johnson Field, will play Texas in the first round of the Big 12 Championship next Saturday at 2 p.m. The loser will drop to sixth place and face Missouri at 11:30 a.m. next Saturday at Don E. Porter/ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.



Duo leads in Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Members of the Oklahoma State men's track and field team competed at the Arkansas Twilight Meet this weekend, with Matt Barnes-Smith and Brad McNiff both running sub-four minute times in the 1500 meters.

Barnes-Smith placed 16th in the 1,500 meters with a season-best mark of 3:54.03, shaving more than seven seconds off his previous best time during this outdoor season. McNiff also came in under the four minute mark, clocking a 3:59.21 to place 22nd. Also competing in the 1,500 meters at Arkansas were Ryan Little (25th-4:04.06), Brian Ehlis (28th-4:06.97), Clay Mayes (29th-4:08.57) and Peter Doroshuk (30th-4:11.49).

A trio of Cowboy runners comprised the entire field in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, with Josh Mathis winning the race in 9:19.43, Paul Burke taking second in 9:45.57 and Peter Wood finishing third in 9:47.61.

Rounding out the OSU contingent in Arkansas was Terry Josserand, who took fourth in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 51.91.

Three Cowboy runners will be in action in California Sunday, with Ryan Vail running the 1500 meters and David Chirchir and Daniel Watts both competing in the 10,000 meters at the Stanford Invitational.



Recognition for women’s track

The Oklahoma State women’s track and field team was one of only two Big 12 women’s track and field programs to receive public recognition awards for multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores.

Under coach Rene Sepulveda, the Cowgirls have excelled in retaining and graduating their student-athletes and his team was recognized both in indoor track and field and outdoor track and field.

“We are very proud of our team for such a prestigious accomplishment,” Sepulveda said. “It really speaks to the character of student-athlete that we have in our program and how excelling in academics is a top priority for us.”

Designed to provide a real-time look at academic success at NCAA Division I institutions, APR scores track the academic progress of each student-athlete on every Division I team. The scores take into account eligibility, retention, and graduation, providing a clear picture of a team’s current academic status.

Division I teams selected for public recognition earned a multi-year APR of at least 965 on a 1000 point scale. Teams also had to score a multi-year APR in the top 10% of all teams in their sport to achieve recognition.

Missouri was the only other Big 12 women’s track and field team to receive public recognition.

        

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