“The first Big 12 Championship was definitely a big-time experience,” said director of track and field Ed Eyestone. “It’s a whole new level of difficulty in this conference, but I think for our inaugural outing I’m super proud with everyone’s preparation and execution. Each position group contributed greatly, with points coming across the board. We definitely can compete at this level. We look forward to sending some great men and women to compete at nationals in a couple weeks.”
Other notable performances included Danny Bryant’s 18.86/61-10.5 throw in the shot put. The heave secured a No. 7 on the program top-10 board for his first appearance on the list. He placed fifth overall among Big 12 competition.
The 3000m saw Aidan Troutner, Joey Nokes and Isaac Hedengren all run under 8:05.00. Troutner took fifth overall, with Nokes in sixth and Hedengren in seventh.
Freshman newcomer Carter Cutting placed seventh in the 1000m final, clocking 2:24.95 across the finish line. Cutting ran 2:24.11 in the preliminary race on Friday, placing second in his heat.
Caleb Johnson ran 4:05.11 in the mile, taking fourth overall in the event.
Quotes
Abram Schaap
“It was awesome and fun. We just came out to race. We executed well with a great group of guys. I think this has been the best our team has been at the end of the indoor season, so we hope we have a good outdoor season."
Danny Bryant
"I was really happy with my performance today. I started off with a new personal record on my first throw and then it took the last throw for me to really get hyped and get an even biggger PR. That was really fun."
Aidan Troutner
“I felt like my performance in the 3000m was okay. I wasn’t feeling very good going into this week, and that resulted me not finishing the 5000m on Friday. The goal going into today was just to finish the race, so I accomplished that. I probably would have had higher expectations than where I finished, but with all things considered, the weekend went well.”
Carter Cutting
“It was great competing here for the first time. The energy is definitely surreal. It’s fun to compete against the big guys. The races are both tactical and physical when you put a lot of the nation’s best together. It’s super fun to go out there and compete.”
Up Next
The Cougars will prepare for the NCAA Indoor National Championships in two weeks. Competition will begin Friday, March 8 in Boston, Massachusetts at The Track at New Balance.
