Tulsa - Oklahoma State cross country head coach Dave Smith has been named the Big 12 Conference men's cross country coach of the year for the second straight season.

Smith's Cowboys earned their second straight Big 12 title last Saturday. The Cowboys claimed the top four spots in the 8K race to easily win the title.

Each of OSU's top five runners earned All-Big 12 honors by placing in the top 15 overall at the conference championship. That's the third straight season Smith's teams have done that.

"It's a great honor to get this kind of coaching recognition, but this is more of a team award than it is an individual award," Smith said. "The guys did a great job out there. They executed our plan very well and ended up winning the Big 12 championship. I'm very proud of this group and look forward to lining up at the NCAA Championships in a couple weeks."

"You really give a lot of credit to Coach Smith," said Ryan Vail, who became the fifth Cowboy runner to earn an individual conference title. "Winning a conference title is hard enough to do just once, but to come back and win it again with everyone now gunning for us just shows how good of a coach he is."

The Cowboys will next compete in the NCAA Regional on November 14th.

 Email To Friend