Posse April/May 2008 by Oklahoma State

COWGIRLS COWGIRLS IN KANSAS IN KANSAS CITY CITY

a division ofa division Crafton Tull SparksTull Sparks of Crafton

LETTER

[from]

MIKE

Warmer weather has moved into Stillwater and so has a full calendar of spring sports. The Cowboy baseball team is in the middle of another impressive season with several key wins over highly ranked teams, including Arizona and Nebraska. Our Cowgirl softball team has also done well in their march through Big 12 play. Both tennis teams have also represented us well as they traveled and competed throughout the region. The Cowboy and Cowgirl golf programs are tuning up for big tournaments in coming months. What a fantastic season it was for the Cowgirl basketball team. A trip to the Big 12 Championship was only trumped by a journey to the Sweet 16. Off the field our student-athletes have performed at a high level. Many have garnered academic honors which prove we have some of the best young people in the country. As always, I want to personally thank each of you for the way you support Oklahoma State. Go Pokes.

T HE OF F IC I A L M AG A ZINE OF OSU AT HL E T IC S POSSE DIRECTOR Jason Penry

EVENT COORDINATOR Brandon Armstrong

DONOR RELATIONS Ellen Ayres

PUBLICATIONS COORDINATOR Clay Billman

ATHLETIC DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT Stephanie Boese

CLUB SEAT COORDINATOR Matt Grantham

PREMIUM SERVICES Karyl Henry

PROJECT MANAGER Shawn Taylor

PROGRAMS COORDINATOR Mindy Walthall

DIRECTOR of UNIVERSITY MARKETING Kyle Wray

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Cory Cheney

ART DIRECTOR Kim Butcher

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Phil Shockley

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Gary Lawson

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Clay Billman,Travis Tindell, Matt Elliott, Kevin Klintworth, Wade McWhorter, Gavin Lang

ADVERTISING: 405.744.7301 EDITORIAL: 405.744.7192

COMPLIANCE Student-Athlete Employment We have all seen the POSSE’s marketing campaign stating that “Before there was a (fill in the accomplishment of your favorite Cowgirl/Cowboy here) there was scholarship.” While the scholarships you help provide go a long way in covering many dayto-day expenses, like most college students, our student-athletes look forward to summer and the opportunity to earn some much needed extra spending money. It is no secret companies prefer to hire student-athletes due to their tremendous work ethic and positive attitude. This is where you come in. Many of you are in a position to employ one or more of our student-athletes. Should you decide to take advantage of this opportunity, there are a couple things you should know. First, a student-athlete cannot be hired simply based on their athletic ability or reputation. They must posses the same skill-set as other similarly situated employees within your organization. Second, studentathletes can only be compensated for work they actually perform. Gone are the days of student-athletes showing up for work just long enough to clock-in and having friends clock them out at the end of the day. Finally, student-athletes must be paid the going rate for the job they are performing. They are not allowed to be paid extra just because their notoriety may help attract extra consumers to your business. Prior to employment, a student-athlete and his/her employer are required to sign a statement to be kept on file in the OSU Athletic Compliance Office which verifies that both parties understand these guidelines and that you agree to follow them. To obtain a copy of OSU’s student-athlete employment paperwork, or to ask additional questions, please contact the Compliance Office at 405-744-7259. Additional information can also be obtained under the Compliance section of the Athletic Department web-site (www.okstate.com). Thank you so much for your support,

OSU POSSE 102 ATHLETICS CENTER STILLWATER, OK 74078-5070 P: 405.744.7301 / 877.2B.POSSE F: 405.744.9084 WWW.OKSTATEPOSSE.COM POSSE@OKSTATE.EDU

The Oklahoma State University Athletic Department would like to thank John Clerico for his vision and dedication to our athletic programs. His generosity has made POSSE magazine possible.

Ben Dyson Assistant AD for Compliance

APRIL MAY08 ISSUE FIVE

WWW.OKSTATE.COM

Football: Artrell Woods

CONTENTS

We Can Rebuild Him

Women’s Track:

Golf:

Wrestling:

Maria Trejo

Amanda & Mark Johnson

Coleman Scott, NCAA Champion

Administrator’s Corner

Donor: Fred & Ed Raschen

Where are They Now?

18 Artrell Woods 26

Not a Matter of Black & White

Walk on-No Longer

Baseball: Rebel Ridling

40 COWGIRLS in KANSAS CITY 54

Donor: John & Caroline Linehan

58 Women’s Track: Maria Trejo 64

Mr. Tegeler

66 Golf: Home on the Range

COWGIRLS IN KANSAS CITY

Wrestling: Coleman Scott

The 150

POSSE Members: Bill & Karen Anderson

Wray-vings Cover photo by Phil Shockley

ADMINISTRATOR’SCORNER

MOVING the BAR to assuring Oklahoma State University athletes compete for championships while 6

attracting student-athletes who will make O-State fans proud. With this in mind, the athletic department launched the Leave a Legacy fundraising campaign last year. As of this magazine issue’s press, 53 supporters have committed more than $23 million in cash and deferred gifts to this campaign. Prior to the campaign, OSU stood alone in last place. According to 2006 data, Texas A&M leads athletic endowment funds with $60 million. Relative to endowed dollars in the Big 12 Conference, Oklahoma State is now in the middle of the pack and gaining ground. Due to the incredible support and generosity of the Cowboy faithful, a larger number of student-athletes will receive scholarships, travel, academic support, strength and conditioning, housing, food, etc. through endowed funds and associated investments. Why the success? Our supporters find it very appealing. It’s a combination of athletic and academic philanthropic support. Scholarships directly impact a student-athlete’s life during his or her years at Oklahoma State, preparing them for athletic competition and, more importantly, post-graduation. Supporters are literally providing funding for a young woman or young man’s scholastic pursuit so that whether or not they go into professional sports after graduation, they’ll have a college education and the opportunity for success in the marketplace. In the words of recent campaign donors Paul and Mona Pitts, “This is a great way to leave an on-going legacy at Oklahoma State in our family’s name – it is a privilege to give back in this area and we are excited about the future of Oklahoma State and OSU Athletics.”

The campaign goal is to raise $115 million, totally endowing 229 athletic scholarships in eighteen sports. This actually accounts for financially assisting 467 student athletes via full and partial scholarships. There is a secondary effect of having all the athletic scholarships endowed: it has a direct bottom-line impact on our $40 million operating budget. Once we complete the campaign and fully endow each scholarship, the department can re-direct the $4.5–5 million annual scholarship expense toward specific needs surrounding the department including coaching, support staff, travel, recruiting – all elements lead to being more competitive in every sport. There are three levels of endowments: the Position Scholarship Endowment ($500,000); the Team Scholarship Endowment ($250,000); and the First Quarter Scholarship Endowment ($125,000). At certain levels, donors choose which sport and even which position their endowment will fund. Donors can take up to 10 years to pay off their commitment. Each donation makes a substantial impact on the respective OSU sport.

SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT FUNDS

Endowed scholarships are essential

Beyond respective tax deductions awarded by these charitable contributions, OSU is one of the few Division I athletic departments awarding priority points for endowment commitments – both for cash or stock gifts and planned (testamentary) gifts. Donors can use points for premium seat upgrades, post-season ticket requests and so on. Roughly half of the committed funds are associated with a donor’s bequest, estate planning, life insurance or charitable trust. True to the name of the campaign, the university plans to commemorate each donor’s contribution in a significant and creative way. Recognition will be a way of expressing the department’s appreciation for a supporter making a significant impact on the school they love. On behalf of student athletes, our coaching staff, faculty and administration, thank you to all the supporters of OSU Athletics – we are poised for great things. The future is bright orange. Craig Clemons

$115m

$23m

$110 $105 $100 $95 $90 $85 $80 $75 $70 $65 $60 $55 $50 $45 $40 $35 $30 $25 $20 $15 $10

7EST 3IXTH s 3TILLWATER s /KLAHOMA s s OR s s

DID YOU SEE IT?

Photo by Gary Lawson

www.okstate.com

Photo by Phil Shockley

THEDONORS: Fred & Ed Raschen

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON 12

hen POSSE showed up to interview Fred and Ed Raschen, a father and son who’ve recently purchased a suite in the west endzone of Boone Pickens Stadium, the tables were immediately turned. They bombarded us with questions about the new basketball coach search. While we had few answers at the time, clearly they were skilled in hunting for information. But that’s to be expected. They’re hunters, after all. The walls of Fred’s living room, where we sat down to talk, are adorned with the mounted heads of all manner of big game.

but I’ve been 21 times. Finally after Ed’s second trip, I said, ‘We should get a ranch of our own.’” Fred and Ed bought their ranch in 2000 and started the safari business. They say most visitors get hooked on Africa and return for another safari, some almost every year. They trade off managing the safari business. “He might be there two or three months, I might be there a month,” says Ed. Both of them talk about Africa as though they could move there and not come back. But then, they have their other business to manage, C4 Incorporated. Fred graduated from OSU in 1961 with a degree in Business Administration, though

“There’s a certain pride involved in being associated with the quality of people and the quality of school we have with OSU.” — Fred Raschen The Raschens, you see, own and operate Morongwa Bush Safaris, which is “situated within the Matalabas river valley in the heart of the Limpopo Province.” That’s South Africa, north of Johannesburg and seven miles from Botswana. It began with a bit of serendipity. “I had an opportunity to go with a friend to Africa,” says Fred. “While we were there, we hunted. That friend has never been back,

when he was growing up, he always thought he would attend the other state university. “My folks had a good friend who’d graduated from OSU,” says Fred. “He was over all the time to play cards with my parents, and he just kept working on me until I eventually agreed to go down and visit. “I decided it was the place for me. It was more of what I was looking for.”

by CORY CHENEY photography by PHIL SHOCKLEY

In 1972, Fred and a business associate created C4 Incorporated. The company was originally intended to be a steel brokerage, but evolved into something else. C4 Incorporated has offices in Tulsa and Oklahoma City and employs up to 30 people. “Ed came on board right after he graduated from OSU,” says Fred. “He’s a bit more computer literate than I am, and he’s led us onto a much broader path. The business has grown. He took what I started and built on it.” But Ed almost didn’t attend OSU. He originally planned on attending Kansas. “When I left for Africa,” says Fred, “he was going to Kansas. But when I got back, he’d changed his mind.” It worked out for Ed as he met his wife, Kathy, who also attended OSU. They both graduated in 1991. Since then, OSU has become a permanent, prominent part of their lives, especially athletic events. “The experience is so much better than it was when I was in college,” says Ed. “The gameday experience is great to bring kids to, and there are a lot of friends we don’t see anywhere else than at a game.” The Raschens are avid tailgaters. Then again, maybe avid isn’t a strong enough term. Rabid might be better. They each have a parking spot just south of Boone Pickens Stadium. On either side of them, they have a friend with a parking spot, for a total of four. They never miss a game. “That old story about bleeding orange – I’m worse than that,” says Fred. “And Ed is the same way. That’s the way he was brought up.” “It’s really just a great experience for us. If

we have a six o’clock game, I want to be there no later than 1:00 pm. We just set up a couple of tents and grill. We usually feed at least 30 people, and we’ve had as many as 150. Everyone is welcome.” Through the 2007 season, the Raschens had been buying club level tickets. And stadium tickets. In fact, they bought 16 season tickets, overall. During the spring, however, they decided to upgrade their commitment to the OSU football experience and purchased a suite. “When Larry (Reece) talked with us about making another donation to the scholarship program, we started talking about

suites,” says Ed. He looked at it both as a businessman and as a fan. “During the football season, we plan on bringing a lot of customers to our suite,” says Ed. “It’s a good place to entertain customers, family and friends. “My mom is getting finicky. She doesn’t like the heat or the cold,” says Ed. “And my knees aren’t what they used to be,” says Fred. “We decided it’d be natural to get a suite,” Ed says. “Another reason I’m excited about the suite is that I have two daughters, Claire, who’s nine, and Caroline, who’s seven. I’m hoping they’ll get hooked on OSU at a young age and

we’ll get them to become Cowgirls.” He became interested in a suite after experiencing several OSU games from the suite of Chad Clay. “I loved it. It was a great experience,” says Ed. “One of the concerns my dad had about getting the suite was tailgating.” “I told him that if it means the end of that, he can count me out,” says Fred. Whether through donations, tickets or children, the Raschens plan to be a part of OSU’s future. “There’s a certain pride involved in being associated with the quality of people and the quality of school we have with OSU,” says Fred.

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O-CLUBPRESENTS: Where are they now?

Miché DARNELL [Garrison]

[Hometown] Carmel, Indiana [Sport] Soccer [Jersey Number] 9 [Years Played] 1996-97 (transfer from South Alabama) [Position] Defender, Sweeper [Degree] Marketing/Business [Current Residence] Lexington, Kentucky [Current Job] Domestic Engineer (Soccer Mom) … This question always bothers me as a stay-at-home mom. On forms you either have to fill out “unemployed,” which is not true, or “homemaker.” Homemaker makes me think of June Cleaver, which I am definitely not. (Those who know me can quit laughing!) [Life after OSU] In the spring of 1999, after graduating from OSU I moved to Cincinnati, Ohio (my family lives there). I started my career in sales for Airborne Express. In July of 2000, I married Michael Darnell (an OSU grad). In January of 2004, our first child was born, Cooper. After his birth, we decided I should quit my job to be a “soccer mom.” [Hobbies/Interests] Serving at our church, especially teaching kids at church [Family] Husband Michael, son Cooper (4), and daughter Kennedy (2) [Soccer Honors and Awards] High School Parade All-American; voted by Cowgirl teammates as OSU’s Most Valuable Player in 1996 and 1997, as well as Most Inspirational Player in 1997. [Best OSU memory] Meeting my husband and beating OU every year I played. [Thoughts about being an OSU student-athlete] It is an honor I really did not appreciate until after college. (I hate to admit that, but it is true.) You have all of the resources you need to succeed in athletics and academics at your fingertips. You just have to take advantage of all the opportunities given to you. [You were a part of OSU’s first varsity soccer team. Can you elaborate on what it was like at the start of a new program?] It is very hard to be part of a new program. Most players came

from teams that were used to winning all of the time. When you go up against other Big 12 teams that are already established you take some hard hits, especially to your pride. At times you had to dig into your competitive nature to keep working hard. That is why it is so great that the team is doing so well now. It just shows you how well Colin (Carmichael) and Karen (Hancock) have done with the program, and is a good indicator of their grit and determination. [Do you keep in touch with former teammates?] I used to … I am really, really, really bad about keeping in touch with people. [Do you currently follow Cowgirl Soccer, and what do you think of their recent success?] The soccer team is doing great. I hope that they continue to dominate the state and stay one of the top programs of the Big 12. I have a special place in my heart for my former coaches. I am excited and thrilled for them and the team that their hard work is paying off. It makes you very proud to say you played for OSU soccer. [Are you a fan of other OSU sports?] Yes, we love to see how the football and basketball teams are

doing. However, it is hard to get any information on the Cowboys and Cowgirls, except on the internet. [Thoughts on current state of OSU Athletics] I was also very happy to hear about the huge donation recently given to OSU Athletics. It is so important for the alumni who can give, to give. I have seen first-hand what donations and great facilities can do for a program and school. [Anything else to add] It is very funny wearing Oklahoma State clothes in Ohio. If you just have the OSU logo, people look at you like you are crazy. With the orange color instead of red and the “crazy logo” they have never seen, they think you bought it from someone selling clothes on the side of the street. Usually, when we see their confused look, we tell them it’s from the REAL OSU: Oklahoma State. (They really don’t like the last comment.)

Who do you want the POSSE Magazine to catch up with next? Send us a suggestion at posse@okstate.edu.

Philanthropists are changing our state and our students through their generosity.

Read their inspiring stories of philanthropy, or submit your own, now at OSUgiving .com/whyigive.

WE CAN REBUILD HIM From freak injury to fall football, Artrell Wood’s remarkable comeback

By Cory Cheney

It’s the fall of 2007. We’re up in the

Club Level of Boone Pickens Stadium on a week night, taking pictures of the Training Table for a feature for POSSE. As we’re prepping for the shoot, a lone football player shows up. He’s easily half an hour earlier than we were told the players start to show up. He’s wearing street clothes, black sweats, Nikes. His torso was encased in a cloudy white plastic brace. I didn’t have to ask who it was – sophomore wide receiver Artrell Woods.

I kept talking with my photographer about what we needed for the shoot, but kept checking on Woods. He filled his plate in silence, trekked back to the table nearest the elevators and ate as though his mom was making him. He finished just about the time the rest of the team started showing up. Without a word to anyone, he stood up and left. It looked like he was avoiding being around the team, and it struck me as rather sad.

I asked him about it when we sat down for this interview. He laughed and said, “No, man, I just had somewhere to be.” These days, Woods is running and weight training with the team (though he’s not yet cleared to do everything the team is doing). But it’s been a rough road to get to this point, and he wouldn’t be where he is without the help of Rob Hunt, Rob Glass and his own indomitable will. Continues

“FOOTBALL IS MY LIFE ... At ﬁrst, it occurred to me I might never walk again, much less play football. But I got that out of my head real fast.” — Artrell Woods

Photography by Phil Shockley

Photo by Gary Lawson

Rob Hunt The first time Rob Hunt, head athletic trainer for the Cowboy football team, saw the OSU football stadium, he was less than impressed. At the time, he was an athletic trainer at the University of Missouri. As the team approached the stadium that fall afternoon, in his words, he was “stunned.” This was before the renovations. “I thought it looked like the county fair,” says Hunt. “Obviously, a lot has changed since then.” These days, Hunt is committed to caring for the Cowboy football team and other OSU athletes. It’s a job he takes seriously enough to work 14-hour days during football season. “For me, when football season starts in August, we work every single day until the season ends,” says Hunt. Even the summers aren’t light. There are morning workouts. Evening skill improvement sessions. He and the trainers have to be at every one. “The difference in summer is that our weekends are a little more open,” Hunt says. “But it doesn’t stop.” For something that occupies so much of your time, you have to really enjoy what you do. Such is the case for Hunt.

“The love of athletics is a big part,” he says. “I have that passion for sports and athletics and being around young people. And at this level, being around elite athletes is a lot of fun. I enjoy caring for people and helping them with their injuries, and I’m really good at what I do.” The athletic trainers at OSU don’t just treat injuries. They provide comprehensive medical care for all OSU student-athletes. There are 14 trainers, seven of whom are full-time, seven are graduate students. There are also two office assistants – Georgia Chappell and Jeannine Grantham – whom Hunt says are instrumental in caring for OSU’s student athletes. “We provide all of their athletic healthcare needs,” says Hunt. “That includes injuries they sustain during participation, but it’s also the place they come for illness, even if it’s a non-athletic injury or illness. This is where they start.” Athletic training isn’t just reactionary. “We try to do a lot of things on the frontend to prevent injuries,” says Hunt. “We assess who they are in regard to their medical histories to see if we can prevent those things from happening again. We’re at every one of their practices, and we’re here during weight training. “We open when the first training session of the day starts and then when the last student-athlete is served, we close down the training room.”

Long days, indeed, but Hunt says the payoff is in getting to know the studentathletes. “I love hearing their backgrounds and stories,” he says. “Every one of these kids has a story. And if you pay enough attention to them, you can learn a lot about people in general.” At home, Hunt has four children, and despite spending so much of his time at work, they’re still a priority. “They visit,” he says. “Krista does a great job of managing them and keeping them involved. We maximize the time when I am home – it’s kid and family time. You just have to take every half hour like it’s a full day.” He doesn’t take his work home with him, save for one exception – Atrell Woods. “I was spending normal family time driving down to Oklahoma City, so I felt they needed to understand what was going on,” says Hunt. At one point, Hunt had Woods over for dinner. “My kids have taken a huge liking to Artrell,” he says. “He was exactly who he would be normally, only he was injured. They’ve been impacted by him. They follow him and want to know how he’s doing. “I don’t mind sharing that with them since he’s shared who he is.”

“We have times dedicated to doing research,” says Glass. “You have to stay on the cutting edge or you’ll get left behind.” Glass assigns his staff specific sports, but encourages them to work together. “We have eight on staff, and we all work together,” he says. “A lot of universities are going to split programs, but I think it’s better this way. No one ends up short-handed.” Glass and his staff coach nutrition, flexibility, speed, explosiveness, mental toughness, injury prevention and even hand/eye coordination. “Maybe a wide receiver is dropping balls and needs specific drills,” says Glass. “Training is now pretty sports-specific and the athletes are so much smarter. All the programs are unique. Golf’s needs are different than football’s. Within a sport, they’re even position specific.” “Originally, we were called strength coaches, and we improved the strength of the athletes,” says Glass. “But now we wear so many more hats. The definition of what we do has changed so much over the past 15 years.” Much like Hunt, Glass spends a lot of time in Gallagher-Iba. Twelve-hour days, year round. Because the athletics participate in strength training year round, Glass and his staff come to know the student-athletes even better than their sport’s coaches. “We’re with the student-athletes so much more,” he says. “You really develop a bond and relationship with them and in some ways, get a lot closer to them.”

The Injury

Rob Glass When the OSU football team comes to the weight room for a workout session, head strength and conditioning coach Rob Glass is the man who puts them through their paces. As he looks like a man who practices what he preaches and barks at them like a drill sergeant, they pretty much do what he tells them. Pretty much. They are still “kids,” after all. There’s much more to his job these days than when he started out as a graduate assistant football coach assigned to the weight room in the summer at OSU in 1986. Back then, maybe 25 players would participate in the summer workout program for the football

team. These days, it’s the whole team. “Our weight room at the time was a quarter of the size of this one,” says Glass. OSU’s weight room sits under the hardwoods of Gallagher-Iba Arena and has every free weight, weight machine and cardio option you can imagine, all branded in OSU. There’s even a track four or five lanes wide. It had been improved before Glass returned to OSU from Florida, but he had it gutted and made better. Now he says it’s the equivalent of the best workout facilities in the country. Of course, facilities are worthless without a talented staff on hand. OSU’s strength and conditioning staff are a multi-talented bunch with complementary specializations.

There was nothing abnormal about the off-season weight session of July 13, 2007. Players were gathered around the various workout sessions, urging each other on, giving each other a hard time. Music blared in the background and Rob Glass and the other strength and conditioning coaches barked orders, keeping the workout running smoothly. “We’d finished our morning runs,” says Hunt. “Artrell’s group had done 20, 25 stadium runs. He went to the weight room to do what we thought would be a quick lift and then he’d be finished for the weekend.” Most of the work-out went fine, until it didn’t. The exercise Woods was doing is called a step-up. The athlete bears a bar across his shoulders, loaded with weight, then steps up onto a wooden box 18-22 inches tall, one leg at a time. It’s a common exercise. “It’s an exercise you wouldn’t expect that to happen,” Hunt says. “He’s done it hundreds of times. “He was actually finished with his set,” Hunt says. “He was getting ready to rack the weight and lost his balance. He started to fall backward and ended up landing on his butt.

When he hit the ground, his shoulders came forward and touched his knees. “He just folded,” says Hunt. “It just happened like that,” says Woods, snapping his fingers. “Real quick.” The result of folding was a spinal dislocation and fracture, which in turn caused an “incomplete” spinal cord injury. Woods couldn’t move his right leg, and he was in a great deal of pain. “Someone tried to come help me up, but it felt like my back was kind of stuck,” says Woods. “So then someone tried to pick me up to walk, but I couldn’t feel my leg. After that, I just needed some pain medicine. It didn’t start hurting until that point.” Coach Glass remembers approaching Woods after the injury. “Artie said, ‘Coach, I can’t feel my legs.’ “I’ve never even seen an injury like this,” says Glass. “It was such a bizarre situation. The guy was using a weight he’d used for

weeks. It’s almost like someone stepping off a curb to cross the street they’ve crossed a thousand times and rolling their ankle.” Obviously, Hunt and his team didn’t allow Woods to be moved. They assessed the injury, and prepped him for transport. “I don’t know that the players knew the magnitude of what had happened immediately,” says Hunt. “They didn’t understand the severity of it. He was what we call ‘neurologically impaired.’ I know he was in a lot of pain and I think he was scared. But he didn’t panic and he let people help him.” Woods was first transferred to Stillwater Medical Center by ambulance. By that point, the team had already been in contact with OU football team physician Dr. Brock Schnabel. According to Glass, the doctor dropped everything he was doing to care for Woods. Schnabel ordered that steroids be used to reduce the swelling around the spinal cord.

“That was probably the most important thing that happened in his treatment,” says Hunt. Woods was transferred from SMC to Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City. There he underwent surgery, first to reduce the spinal dislocation. Then he had a spinal fusion and a spinal decompression. Just six hours after his injury, Woods was showing improvement. “Before surgery, he couldn’t move his right foot,” says Hunt. “After surgery, he had some movement. My goals for him the day of the surgery were that I wanted him to walk by himself. I wanted him to be able to use the restroom by himself. That was it. “If he got those two things, I was going to feel pretty good about the situation. No one knew if he could do those things, so forget about football.” Woods spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, and every day, Hunt was there to visit and support him. Hunt wasn’t the only one, however. Woods’ family was there en masse. “The day of the surgery, his family arrived,” says Hunt. “The news came on, and one of the stations reported he had a careerending injury. He was only awake for that one brief period that day, and that’s what he saw. “It made him mad. For him to hear that, almost from that very moment, he was out to prove everyone wrong. I just remember him being so angry in that bed. Football has always been the carrot.” Hunt says Woods never asked if he would play football again. Two days after the surgery, he stood with a walker, though Hunt says that wasn’t a big deal. “You put a walker in a 20-year-old’s hands, it’s just not supposed to be there,” says Hunt. Eleven days after surgery, he walked on his own, sans walker. Twelve days after the surgery, Woods returned to Stillwater and began the long road back to playing football. “Football is my life,” says Woods, and he admits he had his doubts about playing again. “At first, it occurred to me I might never walk again, much less play football. But I got that out of my head real fast.” Hunt agrees. “All along, his goal has been to return to football. That has never changed,” says Hunt. “We’ve been a little more guarded. He had a spinal cord injury. There’s no guarantee you’re going to be able to do anything. Every little progression he made was a bonus.” The first month after the injury, Woods lost 22 pounds. He lost muscle mass and most of the strength in his right leg, the one most affected by the injury. All that had to be rebuilt before he could start attempting to run again. “The first time he did anything, it was difficult for him,” says Hunt. “Usually by the third time he did something, the third day, he

was pretty close to normal with his function.” The football season was difficult for Woods, Hunt says, whether the receiver will admit it or not. “He didn’t want to be around them,” says Hunt. “It was hard for him to see them do those things and not participate. We wouldn’t let him be on the sidelines because they are so narrow. He couldn’t even be around his guys. It was like putting candy in front of a kid and telling him he can’t eat it. Woods’ candy is football. “He handled it with more maturity and grace than most kids his age would. There has been some lows for him, but he hasn’t let that affect other people. He’s used that for his motivation. It was hard for him to watch football.” By mid-fall, Hunt released Woods partially from training room rehab and the receiver began his weight room progression. In January, he was cleared for light jogging, and then he participated in parts of the team’s winter conditioning program. “Coach Glass helped with Artie’s running progression,” says Hunt. “I trust Rob so much. Due to his expertise, our players get earlier exposure than they normally would. Rob understands where I’m coming from and puts together programs to protect the student-athletes’ injuries and helps them improve.” Glass calls it “advanced rehab.” “Rob Hunt and I sit down and talk about the process,” says Glass. “With any of the athletes who have sustained an injury, the most important thing is the line of communication between the training room and the strength department. It’s critical in having success. The athlete still has a progression. They can’t just jump back in.

“Artrell’s injury is the most traumatic I’ve ever had to work with. We mostly deal with torn ACL’s and shoulders and stuff.” One of the first orders of business for Woods was to put back on the weight he’d lost – he’s back to his playing weight of 195 -- but once that milestone had been reached, the retraining began. Because there was damage to his central nervous system, it wasn’t just a matter of rebuilding the muscle. Imagine having to relearn how to run, and you’ll have an idea of what Woods has gone through. “He essentially had to learn to do everything over again with that leg,” says Glass. The coach says that as of mid-April, Wood’s right leg still gets fatigued, but not in the way you might think. It isn’t the muscles, but the nerves that get tired, in a manner of speaking. “The nerves repair at a such a slow rate compared to everything else in your body,” says Glass. “The nerves in his right leg just aren’t firing at the same rate as those in the left. In everyday life, you wouldn’t even know. But we do. The nerves have to be retrained to fire in multiple bouts when called upon by the athlete’s brain.” It’s been a slow process, but every day is a day closer to Woods’ improbable return to the football field. Like Hunt, Glass attributes much of Woods’ recovery to strength of will. In fact, the largest challenge Glass had to face with Woods was the player’s impatience. “By the time he got to me, he was chomping at the bit,” says Glass. “They kept telling him not to run. He was making really remarkable gains, but the docs kept saying, ‘We’re not going to move to the next stage yet. You have to wait for this date.’ “Then one day, I looked up and he was just flying around the track. I said, ‘I don’t think you’re supposed to be doing that. He said, ‘Hey, I had to. It just felt so good. Don’t tell Rob Hunt.’” Woods is still improving every workout, getting closer to his pre-injury form. Before the injury, Woods fastest 40-yard time was 4.38 seconds. He won’t be timed until Glass feels he’s at the level he was before the injury. No sense in creating any doubt in Woods mind. “He’s probably regained 80% of his speed,” says Hunt. “He’s a guy who had a fifth or sixth gear before his injury. He doesn’t have that separation yet. But I think he will.” Woods participated in all the Cowboys’ spring workouts, though he did not get to participate in any of the scrimmages as he has not yet been cleared for contact. “There’s nothing he can’t do,” says Glass. “They’re just protecting him. He’s so far ahead of the curve for something like this, they don’t want to let him loose and have a setback. “Sometimes, the athletes may feel they are good and ready to go. What we have to guard against is not when they’re fresh, but when they’re fatigued. If a body gets in a compromising position, can it get itself back out. In the winter program, he didn’t get the full thing, but he’ll be

ready to go for the summer program. Then when we get to two-a-days, we’ll know he’s had the full complement of training.”

A Matter of Time For Woods, the waiting is the hard part. He looks lean, mean and ready to run. “I’m impatient,” says Woods. “I want everything to come rushing back.” Because he’s had to be patient, he’s had time to reflect on the impact of the injury. “I’ve learned I can’t take football for granted,” says Woods. “We go out each and every day and complain about something. There are so many people who have it worse than we do. This has made me appreciate the sport a lot more. Made me appreciate my friends a lot more. I think I have a better attitude about life than I did before I got hurt.” Hunt says the change in Woods is deeper than the receiver lets on. “Now he’s a kid with a different perspective,” says Hunt. “All the hard stuff about getting prepared for football. That doesn’t matter anymore. All the hard runs and heavy lifts, that’s something he wants to do because it was taken away from him. “When he makes it back and completes the story, it’s going to be unbelievable. It’s something I’ll remember forever. I’ll remember him forever. His attitude. His work ethic. His belief in himself and his healing that he was going to play football again. “I can remember him sitting in his room at the McBride Clinic. He was playing Xbox. NCAA 08. He was throwing the ball to himself. That’s a week after he’s hurt, he’s already trying to do what he can to visualize himself playing football again. “If he’d asked me if he’d play football again at that point, I’d have told him ‘no way.’ I stopped being guarded in February. I stopped worrying about whether or not he’d play football again. I think this summer he’ll improve himself enough to compete for a starting position. Certainly, a lot of things can happen between now and then, but I don’t see why he can’t.” For Woods, it’s not a question of if, it’s a matter of when. “I feel good about this fall,” says Woods. “I know I’m not back to where I’m supposed to be right now, but I feel pretty good about it. I’m going to be there, hopefully starting. I just hope I can make a difference.” And the thing he’s most looking forward to? “Catching my first touchdown in Boone Pickens.”

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NOT A MATTER OF

BLACK & WHITE Bellow, you masses. Tear at your clothes, howl in rage and gnash your teeth like lions denied their wounded prey. NCAA men’s basketball referee Curtis Shaw has heard it all before. And, he’s calling your mothers.

ut seriously, Shaw, a tall, athletic Tennessean with a slight accent, believes a vocal minority gives the game a black eye. And the sandy-haired referee won’t hesitate to call ’em out. “I think it’s totally ridiculous,” says Shaw, of some fans’ behavior. “I’ve said to them, ‘Would you want me to come to your office and scream at you like you’re screaming?’” But, that doesn’t mean the 47-year-old father of two doesn’t enjoy the game. Shaw, who’s been officiating Division I since 1989, has a court-level view to games featuring the best athletes in the world (too many to mention, he

says). He loves sports, especially basketball, and gets to see beautiful places he normally wouldn’t see in his lifetime, such as historic GallagherIba Arena. On courts from Stillwater, Okla., to Mobile, Ala., Shaw can be seen in four to five games a week in conferences all over the nation. After games, he often doesn’t return to his Bradenton, Fla., home. Instead, he soaks his aching joints in hotel hot tubs and lives off “continental breakfasts” with his clothes packed away into luggage. That means he goes long stretches of time without seeing his home, or his 13-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter. Nor does he have much time to work on his nine-handicap golf game with his buddies back home, or take his

“We’re the only ones that don’t care which team wins … We’re the only ones that don’t want to see the rules bent in any way. We’re the only ones who want to see the team that plays the best win.”

Photography by Gary Lawson

boat out on Florida’s coastal waterways. But, that’s fine with him, he says, because his kids live with him during the off season from April to October, during which he has only to attend training conferences and other NCAA officiating functions. “They’re used to it,” he says, of his children, who live with their mother during basketball season. “That’s one of the sacrifices we have to

make. And the flip side of that is from April to October, I’m home ninety-five percent of the time, when the kids are out of school and don’t have a lot to do.” What he enjoys is protecting the game. He wants to shield his sport from the elbows, slaps, pokes, bumps and hacks of today’s contests. Today’s game is not what basketball’s inventor, James Naismith, intended it to be, he says. His love of the game makes it worthwhile to chase a bunch of 18-22 year-olds up and down a court. He has refereed since he was a student needing extra money at Maryville College, where he played basketball and baseball. He keeps a strict diet that helps him stay energetic. Rest and endless hours watching game video help him work with other officials who’ll be his game partners for each night. To keep up his conditioning during the summer, he swims and does other exercises to stay in shape without hurting his joints. The hard work and time away from his kids is worth it because “We are truly, every night, the only impartial people in that gymnasium,” he says. “We’re the only ones that don’t care which team wins … We’re the only ones that don’t want to see the rules bent in any way. We’re the only ones who want to see the team that plays the best win.”

Shaw’s whistle cuts through court play and crowd noise at the sign of a few extra steps here, a slap and an elbow there. Even with his old-school approach, he doesn’t mind if players politely dispute his calls. “It’s just the nature of kids these days. Back when I played the game, I would’ve never dreamed of going over there and saying that. First of all, my coach wouldn’t have allowed it.” He’ll be the first to admit referees make mistakes. His crew’s goal is perfection. But, Shaw realizes that’s unattainable. So, he considers his job well-done with 96-97 percent accuracy. If that brings howls of rage from the peanut gallery, he’d like the gallery to realize that it’s just a game. Some fans have gotten so nuts they threaten him, although he says he has never feared for his safety. Shaw finds shocking some spectators’ vitriol against coaches and players – even their own. “It is a game. It is a sport. It is for entertainment. It is for kids, college kids to play and progress in a game. Some of it leads to a career for them, but that’s all it is. And in the big world, it’s really a very minute factor.”

Photo by Gary Lawson

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WALK-ON NO LONGER By MATT ELLIOTT

A few months ago during practice, OSU Cowgirls coaches called walk-on center Jennifer Wallenmeyer’s number. 32

The 6’-2” and redheaded athlete from Edmond bounded on to Gallagher-Iba Arena’s historic maple floor, ready to contribute and battle with her teammates. She normally doesn’t get much time in practice, so she jumped at the opportunity. “I actually got into practice and I was getting to play a little bit,” says a nervous Wallenmeyer, interviewed at the team hotel in downtown Kansas City, Mo., during the Big 12 tournament. But, “I messed up one of the plays because I hadn’t gotten to practice much.” Despite her mistake, the chew-out session from Coach Kurt Budke didn’t come. “He was just like, ‘It’s OK. It’s all right. Here’s how you change it. Here’s what you’re supposed to do. Try it again.’” Later, Miranda Serna, the team’s recruiting coordinator, told Wallenmeyer about a conversation she had with Budke after that practice. “Coach Serna told me later he was like, ‘I just can’t yell at her. I can’t yell at Jen.’” Budke laughs when asked about the story. “If she makes a mistake,” he says, “it’s because she just made a mistake. It’s not on purpose. It’s not because she’s lazy. It’s not because she’s forgetful.” Also, Budke says he relies on a bit of wisdom his wife gave him. Some players respond better to instruction than yelling. “You’re better off making a correction with talking to them than you are yelling at them,” he says. Before OSU, Wallenmeyer, an unrecruited Santa Fe High School graduate, enrolled at a private Division III school in Brownwood, Texas, Howard Payne University. Her sophomore year, the Lady Jackets posted a 24-5 record in which Wallenmeyer

led the team with 32 blocks. She also led with 83-percent free throw shooting. But, she didn’t feel a connection or spark with her teammates. So, she transferred to OSU to be closer to her friends who attended the university. During the year off from basketball, Wallenmeyer, a physical education major, grew to miss the sport. “I was just bored. I didn’t know what to do with myself.” Last spring she started calling Serna about tryouts, who urged her to call back in the fall. A few months later, she had the team offices’ phones ringing off their hooks, but she couldn’t get her foot in the door. Luck intervened. Later that fall, she ran into Serna at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes function. “She was like, ‘OK, well, I know your name because you called so many times,” she says. “They agreed just to have an individual tryout for me because they had decided they weren’t going to do tryouts that year.” Apparently, she didn’t disappoint. Budke and his staff let her walk on as only the second such player he has had in his 24 years of coaching. But for “Wally,” as she’s known to her teammates, the dream come true was about to get sweeter. On Dec. 29, the team unwound in the locker room after a 46-point win over Texas Southern – a game in which she played for about four minutes. In the midst of his post game speech, Budke stopped and looked at her. “He looked at me and was like, ‘Jen, I’m going to give you a scholarship,’” says Wallenmeyer, her voice breaking a bit as she tells the story. “There were tears. I was definitely very excited, surprised. Budke says her scholarship wasn’t a gift. “I think we rewarded her more as a person than even a player. Chemistry is a huge part of any team,” he says. “We talk about God, family, education and basketball, and those are her priorities. It’s good to have people like that on a

Photo by Phil Shockley

team who go to class, who do the right thing every day and who expect their teammates to do the right thing every day.” During her 14 minutes of game time this season, she collected four rebounds and took four shots, none of which went in. “I promise you,” Budke says, “she hasn’t played hardly any minutes this year, but she has helped our program by being here.” During the Big 12 tournament, Wallenmeyer could be seen practicing with her teammates in five-on-five drills and shoot around with her long red hair tied back in a

pony tail. During games, she jumps up from her seat, clapping at each basket, no matter the score. “Even if I’m not playing at all here, I still feel like I’m really a part of the team. We have a lot of fun together.” A trip inside the locker room — even during the intense Big 12 Championship run — shows the girls giggling and horsing around before games. During that time, Wallenmeyer prepares each night as if she were in the starting lineup.

“I’m listening to my music and praying, just preparing for the game. I always prepare like I’m going to be playing forty minutes, no matter if I play or not.” Center Megan Byford calls Wallenmeyer one of the hardest working people she has ever met. Each day before practice, she’ll see her shooting around before practice starts and after it’s over. “She is one of the most positive people. If you look over at the bench at any point in time during the game, she is cheering as hard as she can.” A senior, Wallenmeyer has one year of eli-

gibility left, so she plans on changing her major next year to psychology. That way, she can stay on next year, as the Cowgirls expect to make another run at the Big 12 Championship and NCAA playoffs. Once she graduates, she plans on becoming a school teacher and coach. She’ll bring to that profession not only Budke’s teachings, but also his empathy. “I can’t really describe it. He understands us. He cares about us. You can see that in the way he coaches.”

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Photo by Phil Shockley

RebelRidling

WHAT’S in a

NAME? For years, Rebel Ridling has endured countless questions from reporters, fans, teammates and opposing players about his name and where it came from. Each time Rebel answers with a shrug, “I guess my parents were trying to do something different and be a little creative with my name. I guess they just pulled it out of the hat or something.” Ridling does not want his name to be the focus of what he does. He would rather be known for how he performs on the field. As a junior last season, Ridling ranked second on the Oklahoma State baseball team with 90 hits and third on the team with 14 home runs. Ridling’s natural power has given him the reputation as one who can hit the long ball. At times, Ridling finds it difficult to live up to that reputation. “It’s obviously a tough thing to do,” Ridling says. “I try to over swing and do too much and try to hit the long ball when I could just take a nice short swing and just let my natural power do the rest. That’s tough whenever you’re a guy that hits home runs. Sometimes you get a little over anxious and try to do too much instead of just letting your ability take over.” Ridling enters his senior season at first base as one of the few returning starters of a team that reached the Super Regional last season only to fall short one game of advancing to Omaha. In the offseason, the Cowboys had 11 players drafted into professional baseball and the team entered the 2008 season with seven starters missing. It has been up to Ridling to fill the leadership position, a role he has accepted and embraced. “It’s a role that coming into this season I knew I would have,” Ridling says. “I’ve been here for a long time and we have a bunch of new guys, so Jordy (Mercer) and I both knew we needed to be the leaders. It was something I was wanting to do and ready to do. I’m happy to do it.” Ridling described the seniors last year as those that were more vocal and expressive in the

way they headed the team. He prefers a more laid-back style to leading, providing an example so other players can observe his mannerisms and calmness on the field. “I think I’ve been around here for awhile, and I’ve been in every possible situation,” Ridling says. “I’ve been the new guy who coach will get onto a little bit and I’ve been the guy that I am now. Once you’ve been here awhile, you don’t get messed with as much.” “I’m just laid back and easy for guys to talk to. I’ve been in the same situations as most of these guys, and they can come talk to me about it. I know what to expect. I know where we’ve been, where we’re at now as a team and where we’re going.” Coach Frank Anderson knows the importance of having a player like Ridling. “He gives us some security and he’s a calming force,” Anderson says. “He’s been a guy who has been in the middle of our order for three years and that’s a nice security blanket. Knowing he’s going to be there and knowing he’s going to put up decent numbers and knowing he’s playing first is pretty good to have.” Coming off an impressive year, Ridling was expected to be taken in the MLB draft in 2007. Eleven Cowboys were selected in the draft, but Ridling was not one of them. He was slightly disappointed, but he realized he should keep going, and then maybe after senior season he would be selected. “It was disappointing especially because I thought I had a pretty good year. Then to lose in the final game to go to Omaha was tough, and it took some getting used to,” Ridling says. “I’ve moved on and it’s no big deal now. I just put it behind me and try to go out and prove people wrong. My coaches told me not to worry about it but to just go play and it will take care of itself.” Anderson compared Ridling’s situation to former Cowboy Tyler Mach, who went from being undrafted his junior year to being selected in the fourth round after his senior year. Anderson is confident Ridling will be drafted in the top 10 rounds. “Sometimes they will see a guy and they won’t want to put a lot of money into him, and

Photo by Gary Lawson

then in their senior year, they will take them fairly high,” Anderson says. “A lot of times that will happen.” Ridling hopes to improve his status by becoming a more improved asset to the team, starting with his defense on first base. “He’s made himself a good defensive first baseman, and offensively he’s a good hitter and he has power,” Anderson says. “He can drive in runs. He used to be an average defender, but he has made himself into a pretty good one at first.” Ridling knows he must perform well to live up to his leadership role. “I’m just going to go out and play the best all-around possible and help my team win,” Ridling says. “I had good numbers last year and I want to improve on those this year. I just want to come through for the team. I want to come up big in big situations.” With improved statistics this year, it would be hard for the Major Leagues to pass on him in the 2008 draft. And with a name like Rebel Ridling, he should be guaranteed a draft selection. “Hopefully, the name doesn’t go to waste.” Gavin Lang

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Cowgirls in Kansas City By Matt Elliott

It’s 8:05 a.m. March 10, and OSU’s Cowgirls shoot around on Gallagher-Iba Arena’s white maple floor.

They laugh and joke with each other, shooting on both ends of the floor as Coach Kurt Budke chats out of bounds underneath the goal. Practice will be light today, he says, because he’s resting his players for what will be a bruising, grueling and tight Big 12 Championship in Kansas City, Mo. “They’re ready to play right now,” Budke says, who entered the tournament at 23-6.

The trip comes as the Cowgirls posted their best record in years. Their 20-plus win season was the team’s second in a row after Budke’s first season, 2005-2006, when the team went 6-22. The turnaround has been one of the most dramatic in college sports. Led by Andrea Riley, who leads all players in the league averaging more than 22 points per game, the team is the Big 12’s No. 3 seed for the tournament. That means they won’t play in Kansas City’s art deco Municipal Auditorium until March 12. Budke wishes they were playing right now, clutching a coffee as he towers near the basket in

SPORTS FEATURE: WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

his black and orange jumpsuit. But, he admits the off time will give his players a chance to rest and study other teams as they await the winner of the March 11 Nebraska and Kansas game. “They’ve got just a pretty good understanding now of how hard they have to play,” says Budke, part of a team that has gelled around starters Riley, Maria Cordero, Taylor Hardeman, Danielle Green and the hard-nosed forward, Shaunte Smith. The Cowgirls come into the tournament with something to prove after last season’s trip, which ended when the Jayhawks sent them packing in the first round. They’re on a five-

game losing streak in the conference playoffs. And, before this year’s tournament, the Big 12 player awards were announced, and Riley won All Big 12 First Team. Cordero, Green and Hardeman received honorable mentions, but Smith wasn’t mentioned. Budke believes his team doesn’t get the respect it deserves. He cites Smith’s case as an example. The six-foot junior forward has developed into a player who fights in the lane, wrestles for rebounds and scores tough baskets. During the last 10 regular season games, she scored in double figures seven times and pulled down an average of more than 10 rebounds. By 11 a.m., the team is on the bus and ready to leave . Cell phones are confiscated. Seats are taken. Green is told she’s fat (a long-running

“OSU means to me not only a place to get a great education, but also to be a part of a group of people who are family.” — Coach Budke team joke). Riley packs her SpongeBob pillow to her seat. The group gets to joking and will become so loud that what the players say is nearly unintelligible. Budke and his staff sit at the front of the bus. “In my twenty-plus years coaching, this is probably the most fun I’ve had,” he says. “It’s really been a joy to coach these kids.”

Photography by Phil Shockley

March 11 The Cowgirls arrived on a Monday, but not for a vacation. The team will spend most of their time at the hotel, the Westin Crown Center, part of a group of tall buildings, shops and businesses on the south side of downtown connected by an enclosed walkway. “The hotel has a mall in it. A mall in the hotel,” says a disbelieving Megan Byford, a native of Bray, Okla., a town of about 1,000 people about 80 miles south of Oklahoma City. While OU prepared for Missouri, OSU watched game film of opponents, read through an hour of study hall and practiced. Later, they sat awestruck in the stands as Missouri beat OU in overtime, despite 30 points and 20

watching Nebraska and Kansas, the winner of which they’ll face tomorrow night. Green, Byford and guard Chontaye Walter sit with their teammates, studying each team. They slap the seats in front of them at calls, exclaim amazement at shots and joke with each other as they watch the game. If Riley is the team’s brash and aggressive star, Green is the Cowgirls’ joker off whom the others feed. The first day of the tournament was a tough one for the top seeds. Before the sun set on the Kansas City skyline, the two lowest seeded teams, Missouri and Kansas, would knock off two top teams, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Green says OU’s loss shocked her. “I think the whole United States of America was surprised,” she says, glancing back from the game. “It just shows us we’ve got to come ready to play.”

“I think the whole United States of America was surprised ... It just shows us we’ve got to come ready to play.” — Danielle Green rebounds from the Big 12 Player of the Year, Courtney Paris. Later that day, the Cowgirls gave an autograph session in one of the winding hallways of the auditorium. About 250 squirming kids clutching posters and game programs lined up out the door, joined by their parents, many of whom were in OU shirts. Later, the team is back in the stands,

“Anything can happen in the Big 12,” says Walter. OU’s loss disappointed them because the team hungered to battle the fifth-seeded Sooners deep in the tournament. They split both games during the regular season, including a historic Cowgirl win in which Riley exploded for 45 points in front of the largest crowd in the history of women’s basketball in Oklahoma.

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“The only reason I came here is because I wanted a shot at Courtney Paris,” says Byford, who added that she was also drawn by the coaches, community and her teammates. That night, Kansas, with a double-double from Taylor McIntosh, beat Nebraska 73-67. The Cowgirls will face the Jayhawks first, giving them just a few hours of film time and practice to prepare. But both teams know each other well, Green says. The Cowgirls won the only meeting between the two this season. “We’re going to go out tomorrow night and play our basketball,” Byford says. “We’re not going to change too much.”

March 12 Breakfast at 8 a.m. Shoot around, 9 a.m., Municipal Auditorium. The team waits in a dim hallway near an entrance to the court, horsing around and waiting for another team to leave the floor. Early in the tournament, each team gets only 45 minutes of practice on the court. The 10,700-capacity arena has a retro feel and a musty smell, burnished metal light fixtures, Italian marble and old ticket booths, framed by high ceilings and crown molding, evoking a yellowed art deco ambience. After a quick shoot around, Budke and Associate Head Coach Jim Littell show the players tweaks to their zone defense that gave Kansas so much trouble in their previous game. They also point out the Jayhawks’ weaknesses on defense, including 6’5” freshman center Krysten Boogaard, the Saskatchewan native whom the Cowgirls staff believe they can attack on offense. They go full speed through five-on-five

plays, with Budke urging his defenders to be ready to jump out to shooters away from the basket. “Set your screens,” yells Assistant Coach Kenya Larkin, her voice echoing through the empty auditorium. “Y’all rub shoulders. Let’s go, D.” Just a few hours later, the team returns to the arena, this time suited up and stepping off the orange and black bus to a host of about 80 fans meeting them at the curb. Cheerleaders and Pistol Pete excite the crowd. Fans of all ages chant “go State” and “let’s go, Cowgirls,” their voices careening off Kansas City’s downtown. Before she heads inside, Green stops to hug a fan in a wheelchair. The 12-player team, five coaches and a few staff pack into a locker room smaller than a studio apartment and just off an entrance to the court floor. Texas’s come-from-behind upset of No. 2-seed Baylor can be heard from the court. Nearby, Budke, in black slacks and an orange shirt, gives a radio interview. “The worst thing is waiting as long as we have for this game,” says Budke. “It just wears on you all day long.” Auditorium employees flit by pushing

carts as Budke talks in the dim light. In the locker room, next to a dry erase board hangs a white poster on which is written “Extra, Extra, Picture this. The OSU Cowgirls can win the Big 12 Championship.” “It’s going to be physical,” says Budke, addressing the team. “Just watching this game, they’re not calling much. You’ve got to keep your head throughout this whole thing.” “Is it just me, or is there elevator music playing?” asks Hardeman later, commenting on the audible strains of canned music from somewhere near the lockers. “That’s KU piping it in here,” Budke jokes. Cellophane crinkles as the players snack on candy. Alex Richardson gets accused of eating all the Red Hots. A few minutes later and it’s time to hit the court. OSU fans have filled about 30 rows back from their team’s bench. Cordero meets Kansas’s McIntosh at half court for the tip off, and OSU’s chance at postseason glory begins. By about 13 minutes to go, the Cowgirls had a stubborn lead thanks to points off turnovers created by Green, Smith, Cordero and Shyvon Spears. The Cowgirls hold Taylor McIntosh, who had a double-double against Nebraska, scoreless in the first half, but guard Danielle McCray

had 11 points. By the end of the half, OSU pushes the lead to 12 points with 10 points from Smith, nine from Riley, and eight from Green. The Cowgirls keep KU, whose entire starting lineup had two fouls each, nearly scoreless from three-point range. At halftime, there’s no yelling or screaming like in the movies. The Cowgirls are up, 43-31. Coach Littell urges his post players to fight Boogaard down low, grab more rebounds, and push the ball more. The Cowgirls had six fast break points to KU’s two. “They’re tired,” Littell says. “We quit running a little bit at the end. We need to run on these folks.” Budke says he’d like to see a third foul on McIntosh so she continues to be hampered by foul trouble. “I mean, you’ve got to bring it,” Budke says. “There’s nothing free this time of year. There’s nothing easy this time of year. We’ve got to step up, and you’ve got a chance to bury ’em right now.” During the first few minutes of the second half, Boogaard comes on strong, scoring eight points in three minutes. But, with a redfaced Cordero fighting with her below the basket, Boogaard later picks up two quick fouls, sending her to the bench with under 15 minutes to go. The Cowgirls’ first Big 12 post-season win was a dominant performance, beating Kansas 82-62, forcing 11 steals out of 18 turnovers committed by the Jayhawks. Their motion offense, a variant of a system

designed more than 60 years ago by Oklahoma A&M coach Henry Iba, rolled over Kansas. Five Cowgirls scored in double figures. Riley had 23 points, leaving Jayhawks players in the dust on several fast breaks off steals. That broke the Cowgirl’s single-season scoring record. Smith played a physical game, scoring 12 points but stealing the ball four times and grabbing seven rebounds. “Five people in double figures,” Budke says in the locker room to whoops from his players. “I’m telling you, we can play with anybody in this nation when we have five people in double figures.

“There’s nothing free this time of year. There’s nothing easy this time of year. We’ve got to step up, and you’ve got a chance to bury ’em right now.” — Coach Budke “She doesn’t get enough credit, but, Shaunte, I thought your defense was unbelievable tonight,” he says, drawing more raucous cheers from his team. “We can win this tournament. I hope you realize that. I hope you believe that.” The team clasps hands and bows their heads in a circle for a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, led by the head coach. Then, Budke, Hardeman and Riley hoof it to a press conference. The rest of the

team unwinds with tomorrow night’s opponent, Texas, the conference’s seventh-seeded team, on their minds. The interviews take place just off the media work room where the smell of old hot dogs, hamburgers and pickles wafts from metal trays. Rows of seats fill a curtained-off area in the corner, in front of which a large sign is posted, reading “quiet – interviews in progress.” Behind the curtain, TV cameras line up manned by 20-somethings in headphones while sportswriters toting laptops and notepads take their seats in front. It starts off with comments from an upbeat Budke. “I thought we had good balance all night long,” he says. “We know we're playing a great opponent in Texas, but right now we feel like we can beat anybody that goes on the floor with us. We're playing with that kind of confidence.” One reporter says, “Andrea, a lot of high seeds were going down as you guys waited to play. Did you notice that and did it get your attention?” “It really got our attention,” Riley says, in a measured and professional manner not shown when she’s alone with the team. “But, it didn't really bring us down because we know that we are the Cowgirls and we are OSU. And, we don't have to worry about any other team.”

OSU Cowgirls vs. Kansas Cowgirls 82 Kansas 62 SPORTS FEATURE: WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

OSU Cowgirls vs. Texas Cowgirls 75 Texas 72

March 13 9:30 a.m., breakfast. 10 a.m., film. 10:30 a.m., study hall. Then, it’s practice for Texas. Two days in, the Cowgirls are the highestseeded team left in a tournament full of teams that know each other like the backs of their hands. Tonight, the Cowgirls will face a team with which they split their two games this season, so they’re expecting a tough contest. Cordero, seated at a table in the team hotel’s meeting room after practice, isn’t nervous. “Not so much,” she says, her dark-headed 6’3” frame dwarfing her chair. “I’m more excited and just anxious to get back out there.” The senior center from Santa Barbara, Calif., had a hard-fought night with Kansas’ Boogaard and is excited about this tournament, partly because she knows it’s her last one. The team’s blocked shots leader came to OSU as a junior college transfer last year from Central Arizona College, where the team won the national title in 2005. “This tournament will be just as special because of how hard our conference is, how far we got in this conference this year, that no one thought we would,” says Cordero. She praises her teammates, including

Smith, and talks about her disappointment that the forward wasn’t recognized by the Big 12 for her strong post play. Despite that, the tournament has been fun for the team because the players get along well, she says. “This set of girls is great, and our coaching staff is awesome. That’s made it fun I think.” Cordero says after her basketball career ends, she’ll likely return to California and become a teacher. She’ll miss the community of Stillwater, but she needs a beach. The quick interview ends as Cordero has to join her teammates for the pregame meal. A few hours later, the Cowgirls cram into their cramped locker room, this time to face

the Longhorns. “Remember now, again as you watch this game, they’re not going to call anything,” says Budke, his team seated around him. “It’s got to be physical from the very minute you go on the floor. This is their third game in three days. Last night, we hurt KU getting out there and running. We’ve got to do the same thing tonight.” Texas A&M has beaten Iowa State and the Cowgirls wait in the tunnel for their chance on the floor. The court’s white lights shine from the entrance, sending a glowing haze of light off the team’s shoulders, glowing in the tunnel’s darkness as they shake the tightness from stiffened muscles.

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They trot out to the punk rock band Bowling for Soup’s hit, “1985,” and it’s clear there’s a lot of orange in the stands. Included in the more than 4,700 spectators is OSU’s new president, Burns Hargis, visible just behind the Cowgirls’ bench. Texas wins the tip-off, but guard Carla Cortijo misses the first shot. Erneisha Bailey tears down the offensive rebound and scores the first points of the game. But less than a minute in, the Cowgirls take the lead on a three from Hardeman, who scored her team’s first five points of the night. Green tears the court up, seeming at times to be falling down as she runs full speed between Longhorns to drain jump shots and layups. Texas spends the rest of the half playing catch-up, hampered by five and six point runs by the Cowgirls, who lead by 12 at the half. Green and Riley have 25 points and the team out-rebounds the Longhorns 24 to 16, while limiting them to 38 percent shooting. Also, young players such as Byford and Richardson play strong minutes as well, with Byford nailing 6 points by the half. In the locker room, Budke and his coaches couldn’t be more pleased. “You guys played really well,” he says. “Now, we’ve got to do it again. Some of you young people who haven’t been playing much, great job. Way to come in and help. Now what did Baylor have on them by half time? Sixteen. They ain’t going away.” After halftime, Texas responds with a flurry of free throws, jump shots, rebounds and three pointers from Kathleen Nash, Williams

and Cortijo, taking the lead by one with 13:10 remaining. The game see-saws with both teams trading leads until Green, Riley and Smith rattle off a string of points putting OSU ahead with 3:49 to go. Budke’s wife, sitting behind the bench with their children, hides her face behind her hands, unable to watch. Nash gives her team the lead on a threepoint shot, but Riley brings OSU back on the next possession with a jump shot. As time winds down to less than a minute, the crowd hangs on each play and the teams trade missed shots. Then, with 20 seconds left Cordero gets a huge block on Erneisha Bailey on a shot that could’ve won the game for Texas. Later, Shaunte

court, closely guarding the Longhorns’ Cortijo, letting time tick off before she fouls the guard, never letting her cross half court. That shaves three seconds off the clock. Cortijo takes the ball up after the inbounds and rushes up to the three-point line, but Cordero bounds over from her post position to defend the shot. As the clock hits zero, Cortijo’s shot bounces out of the rim. The Cowgirls win, 75-72. The bench players sprint across the court, mobbing Cordero, Riley and Green. Riley had 23 points and six rebounds. Smith wrestled her sixth double-double on 16 rebounds and 12 points. Green scored 23, breaking 20 points for the second time during the season. The senior, who had her shorts on backwards during the game, put on a highlight reel performance, including one play in which Riley passed to Green on a drive underneath the basket. Green caught it near the post, but she fell when she caught the ball, still managing to pass back to Riley, who nailed a three point shot from the wing. Back in the locker room, everybody high fives each other, yelling while Texas stalks back to the locker room. “They said we couldn’t do it,” says Budke, hyped at his team’s performance. “We can do it. Everybody’s been doubting this team except us … We got one more. We didn’t come here to be satisfied, just to play again.” At the press conference, Green, Riley and Budke take questions from an admiring crowd of sports journalists. “Danielle, I don’t know if you’ve ever made a better play than the assist to Andrea when you were flat on your back,” one reporter says. “That was an amazing play,” Green says, seeming as if she was astounded by it as well. “I thank God she hit it.” Budke laughs, adding “We work on that play.”

“They said we couldn’t do it ... “We can do it. Everybody’s been doubting this team except us … We got one more. We didn’t come here to be satisfied, just to play again.” — Coach Budke Smith hits two free throws with eight seconds to go, putting the Cowgirls up 75-72. That’s plenty of time for Texas to score, so the Cowgirls’ coaches, realizing their team has fouls to give, devised a plan during a timeout to force Texas to shave as many seconds off the clock as possible. It worked. Coaches order Riley past half

Green busts up, “Yeah, coach drew it up.” It wasn’t all laughs. Riley was overflowing with praise for Smith. “Shaunte Smith. Every time we need a big play, she steps up. If it’s not me, or Danielle, or Maria, it’s her.” Green counters, “How about that block by Maria Cordero? She doesn’t get enough

credit either. She’s our leader. She keeps us fired up and I’m proud of her.” Back at the locker room, Smith, nearly inaudible over the cheers of her teammates, says she takes pride in her physical play. “I take pride in defense and rebounds. If I didn’t end the day with at least ten rebounds, you know, I’m disappointed in myself, ’cause you know points will come in off my rebounds.” “Go, Cowgirls,” she adds.

March 14 OSU is worn out. The team and staff spend much of the day resting and studying up on Texas A&M, whom they’ll face the next day. Some of them caught the Cowboys’ 59-66 loss to Texas. Later that day, the coaches put the Cowgirls through a shortened practice and cancel a planned trip to the mall so their players could rest. They face a Texas A&M team that has held its opponents to the lowest point average in the conference.

March 15 The team wakes up to a dusting of snow on the ground, glistening in the morning sun rising over downtown. Practice seems a little more urgent with the championship game in a few hours. Budke seems a little more exhausted. They focus on their zone defense and four plays A&M uses to maximize the talents of a hot core of players who can hit jump shots all over the floor. Point guard A’quonesia

Franklin’s match up with Riley was billed in the media as a bout between two of the best players in the country. After the pre-game meal, the Cowgirls file into the locker room at 4:30 p.m., an hour and a half before game time. Orange and black balloons sit next to the door. Budke, Littell and Recruiting Coordinator Miranda Serna sit, talking in hushed tones over notes in the dimly lit hallway. Budke’s black shoes are off, placed underneath the table and his black-socked feet dangle over them. He and Bruce Erickson, the team’s player development director, glance up to see center Alex Richardson hustling off from the locker room. “Alex, where are you going?” the two ask. “I’m looking for Amber (Littleton, the team operations director),” she replies. “We’ll take care of it,” Budke responds. It’s clear that’s code for “get back in the locker room.” “She’ll be out wandering … We’ll have to send out a search party for her,” Budke chuckles. Staring at his shoes, he says he hasn’t slept in a month. Make that two. “It’s on and off sleep,” he says. “Thank God I’ve got a wife that can handle stuff like that.” He’ll be up all night most times, watching old episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, Seinfeld, or Cheers. Anything to take his mind off basketball for a half hour. He puts his shoes on and steps off to the side for an interview with Kevin Gum, the Cowgirls’ radio announcer. “Championship Saturday is upon us,” Gum starts, with his hand-held digital recorder in front of him. “We welcome everybody back to the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. It is time for our game-day visit with the head man, Kurt Budke. Coach Budke, first

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of all, when you were hired at Oklahoma State a few years ago, you stood in front of all the fans and the administration of Oklahoma State and said the winning stops …” Gum catches himself. Budke doesn’t let on that he notices. “Err, that the losing stops today …” He asks when coach thought the team would get to the championship game. Budke replies, “I didn’t know exactly when we were going to get here, but I knew we could get here, and I knew with the facilities we have and the administration and the athletic director …” Out on the court, orange-shirted fans find their seats. The Cowgirls line up, shake off pre-game lethargy and take the court to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” The game starts on a tip off between Cordero and A&M forward La Toya Micheaux. Micheaux tips it to A’Quonesia, the 5’3” bowling ball of a guard with wild short hair. On the Aggies’ first possession, guard Takia Starks nails a three pointer. Back comes Riley with one of her own, with Franklin glaring in her face less than a minute into the game. The Aggies’ defense forces the Cowgirls into 25 percent shooting from 3-point range and 31 percent overall. An aggressive man defense drives OSU away from its offense and into bad shots, stifling its ball movement. Meanwhile, the Aggies’ shooters – including Franklin and Morenike Atunrase – hit five three-pointers. At halftime, OSU is down 24-33. Riley, Green and Smith have 22 of the team’s points. Back in the locker room, Riley complains about calls, and Green bemoans missed shots and A&M’s hot shooting. Players talk over each other. A couple of players stare at the floor as the coaches walk in the room. “OK, here we go,” Budke says. “The biggest thing, we’re not playing our game. I don’t know what game I’m watching. It ain’t us. It ain’t us,” he repeats, raising his voice. He rails against the team’s ball movement and motion away from the ball, wondering why players aren’t catching passes at better locations or why they aren’t taking the ball to the post. “Why? Because you’re scared to death, that’s why. Because you’re out there, they’re hitting and bouncing you around a little bit, and you’re letting it affect you.” “I see (A&M’s Takia) Starks bust her butt every play. I see Franklin bust her butt every play. I see Atunrase doing the same thing. What are we doing?” He blamed players for not fighting through screens and allowing Franklin and Atunrase to hit a trio of three-pointers. “That’s nine points right there. That’s nine points by not thinking and not hustling. People,” he pauses, telegraphing his words,

OSU Cowgirls vs. Texas A&M Cowgirls 59 Texas A&M 64 “I don’t care who they pair us with, where our game goes, if they send us to Connecticut or Washington or whatever it is, this team can play with anybody in this tournament …” — Coach Budke

“you don’t win championships by just going through the motions. You win championships by executing the game plan,” he says. He accuses his team of not being mature enough to win the championship. Then, he quietly passes the floor to Littell, who starts on the team’s motion offense. “The way to beat them is direct drives and there’s nothing that opens the floor better than motion …” he says, his voice escalating through his speech. “But, we won’t run the play!” After running back through their offense and defense, Budke’s voice waivers as he admits he doesn’t know how they’re still in the game, but they are. Nine points doesn’t

make an insurmountable lead. “Make sure they understand that we’re in the game,” he says, looking his players in the eye. “Now, I know we can win this game because we couldn’t have played any worse, and we’re in this thing. Let’s go win this game, but you’ve got to take it from them … I love you guys. There’s not a coach in America more proud of their team than I am right now. But you’re not going to be proud of that twenty minutes when you walk to the hotel.” His players start clapping. Shouts of “let’s go” and “leave it all on the court” ring off the walls as Littell exhorts them to fight back. They come out of the half gunning, with Shaunte Smith fighting

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for a basket over two Aggies after losing the ball down low on the first play of the half. After a missed shot by A&M’s Danielle Gant, Smith nails her second basket with less than a minute gone. But, the Aggies hold, pushing their lead and staving off the Cowgirls. That is, until Riley goes nuts with six minutes left. She rattles off a string of shots, steals and hustle the press called “unbelievable” the next day. No pass seems to make it through her as she jumps the passing lanes between Franklin and her teammates, racing to the other end of the court for baskets. Setting the crowd off, she scores ten points in less than three minutes,

giving her team a one point lead with 3:07 left. But A&M answered back with baskets from Atunrase and Gant that gave them the lead by four with 1:36. Two free throws by Green narrows the gap, but Gant puts the Aggies up 56-60, until Riley hits an incredible shot in front of OSU’s bench. With 26 seconds to go, Riley drives to the right of the key, feints to the basket, but then shoots as she falls away out of bounds, nailing a three from more than 25 feet away. That sends OSU’s bench and Budke into a frenzy, putting the team within one point of tying the lead. OSU starts fouling so they can get the ball back in time to win. After Franklin hit two free throws, fate intervenes. Riley’s three point shot with 12 seconds to go would’ve tied the game, but it sticks between the rim and the backboard. The seconds tick away, and a last desperation three from Riley sails wide of the basket. The Cowgirls walk dejected to the sidelines to shake hands with the Aggies. Riley finishes with 28 points and five steals. Green had 17 points. It’s not over, Budke tells his players in the locker room, as cheers from Aggies’ fans can be heard from the court as their players celebrate. “Don’t get me wrong,” he says, with a little of the frustration from half-time seeping in, “this is important. But, it’s the Big Dance that’s the big game … We’re going to be OK, as long as we stay together.” Budke and Littell say they won’t point out mistakes made now, adding there’ll be plenty of time for that before the national tournament. “Bottom line,” Littell says as a player coughs, “(A&M) is a team that has the capability to go into the Final Four, at least the Elite Eight … ” “No question,” Budke agrees. “… And we were right there with them,” Littell says. The Cowgirls must win their next four games, Budke says. And, they’ve done that before, he notes, in the nation’s toughest conference for basketball. “I don’t care who they pair us with, where our game goes, if they send us to Connecticut or Washington or whatever it is, this team can play with anybody in this tournament,” he says, as the last lines of OSU’s alma mater drift in from the court. “You’ve got to believe it. When we leave here and we go to the press room, give A&M the proper credit. They earned it.” As the team clasps hands for the Lord’s Prayer, there are a few audible sniffles, but no tears can be seen. “Everybody leave here with their head high,” says Budke, who leaves for the press conference room, trailed by his family and The Oklahoman’s sports columnist, Berry Tramel.

NCAA Selection Two days after Saturday’s defeat, the Cowgirls file into the second-floor club level of Stillwater’s Boone Pickens Stadium for a pep rally packed with a mob of cheering fans. ESPN will soon announce the brackets for the NCAA tournament, and the Cowgirls, with a 25-7 record, are shoe-ins for an at-large bid. It takes Riley, Cordero, Kristin Hernandez and the team almost 15 minutes to make it to their seats. They stop to high five and hug fans as ESPN blares over the myriad of televisions throughout the bar area. Budke is flanked by his wife, their two sons and daughter, weaving through the crowd to a line of seats placed in front of a gigantic television hanging over the empty bar. The team sits in the front row, next to Budke and Littell. Everyone is smiling and the mood is light, compared to the weekend’s loss and long trip back to Stillwater. The media line up behind the bar just feet from the team with cameras pointed. ESPN kicks off with UConn. Anchors quip their way through game highlights from teams such as the Terrapins, UTEP, Texas A&M and Tennessee. Minutes into the broadcast, the Cowgirls learn their next opponent, as “Oklahoma State” flashes across the screen, listing its opponent as No. 14 seed East Tennessee State. If you blinked, you missed it. The crowd screams and orange and black balloons drop from above the bar. However, OSU will play Saturday, not in the Oklahoma City bracket, as the Cowgirls believed they deserved, but in the New Orleans bracket, playing their first game in Des Moines, Iowa. The Sooners have a worse record than 13thranked OSU and are ranked lower nationally in the Associated Press poll. But the Sooners will

play in the Oklahoma City bracket, giving them a home court advantage late in the tournament if they advance. Otherwise, the Cowgirls, a three-seed, aren’t mentioned or shown throughout the rest of the broadcast the crowd views. The only footage shown is of their loss to A&M as part of a clip featuring the Aggies’ streak to the Big 12 Championship. Someone hands Budke a microphone. He climbs up on top of the bar to the sound of earsplitting feedback. “Well how ‘bout that? A three-seed,” he says, as the crowd whoops and whistles. “Hey, that’s a long way from oh and sixteen,” he jokes, referring to his first year at OSU. He thanks fans for their support, especially in the tournament, and says they’re disappointed they don’t get to play in Oklahoma City. “But, you know what? This team will go play anybody, anywhere ...” and the crowd drowns out his words with cheers. “I don’t know much about our opponent, but we’ll get to work on it right after this,” jokes the coach, drawing hoots from the audience. A pep talk from Green and Riley follows, and Budke says the next step for the program is to get more fans in the stands. On a more serious note, the crowd falls silent as Budke says he has some news for them. “Coach Littell has been offered another job,” Budke says, pausing, letting that sink in. Media had been reporting that Littell, whom Budke considers to be the best associate head coach in the nation, had been interviewed about a job with another college. “And, he’s decided to stay.” The crowd sceams and claps. Riley, Cordero and others give Littell a standing ovation. Apparently, the team didn’t know about it either. Budke hands Littell the microphone. “I’m proud to be from Oklahoma State. That’s all I have to say,” he says.

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THEDONORS: John & Caroline Linehan

Coming Home J

ohn and Caroline Linehan live in Oklahoma City for the time being, but think nothing of making two, three, even four trips to Stillwater in a given week. There are teams to support, after all. Distance is not an issue. “We came here from Los Angeles, so the drive from here to Stillwater is not overwhelming,” says John. “It’s not one of those things that cause hesitation when it comes time to renew our season tickets. “Tuesday night there’s a men’s basketball game. Wednesday there’s a women’s game. And then Sunday, there’s another. When there’s a ballgame, we go.” “It’s just a part of our life,” says Caroline. “People ask why we drive back and forth all the time. We think nothing of it.” Almost nothing. About a year ago, they decided to move to Stillwater. The bug was put in their ear by friends of theirs, Dick and Carol Ann Powell. “The first game when they opened the club seats, we sat down and next to us were Dick and Carol Ann, whom I went to school with,” says John. “We had no idea they were buying tickets next to us. “They started talking about Stillwater. Over the course of the football season, they convinced us that we should move back.” So they bought some land, developed a floor plan and began construction on a new home, which should be completed in June. It’s a homecoming of sorts. The Linehans are both OSU alums. Both graduated in 1961, John with a degree in accounting, Caroline in education. After graduation, however, they lived pretty much everywhere but Stillwater. Texas. California. France. “Following Texaco’s acquisition of Getty Oil, we moved back to Oklahoma City with Kerr-McGee,” says John. “We started renewing acquaintances and attending OSU ball games.”

They haven’t missed many since, with season tickets to wrestling, men’s and women’s basketball and football. “When we get to Stillwater, it’ll be more convenient to have tickets to baseball and softball,” says John. “And I’ll attend the women’s soccer games,” says Caroline. She is, however, partial to basketball. Caroline’s love of basketball began when she was little. Her father took her to pretty much every high school basketball game he could find. “We went to every little little town in southwest Oklahoma,” says Caroline. “I’ve always loved basketball games, especially OSU basketball.” For example, in 1995 when the Pokes went to the Final Four in Seattle, John couldn’t go, so she went without him. The Linehans’ seats for men’s basketball are in the row just in front of the TV cameras. During one game, the camera’s view of the court was obstructed by Caroline’s cheering, and she was asked by the cameraman to sit down. “Caroline said she’d had her seat longer than he’d had his and that he was going to have to shoot around,” says John. At the next game, the camera platform had been raised. “If my funeral falls on game-day,” says John with a grin, “Caroline is going to have it taped so she can watch it later.” It’s worth noting the Linehans have been married 46 years. Still, she doesn’t take things too seriously. “Even when we lose, there’s always next year,” she says. “Sometimes, I think you can take it too seriously. It’s a game. The young men and women are doing the best they can. For me, it’s just fun to watch them. Of the two of us, I’m the more emotional. I think life is a gift. John and I both believe that we give to OSU and other charitable causes because we want to show our children and grandchildren that it’s a responsibility to give back.”

byCORY CHENEY photo by PHIL SHOCKLEY

“We received more from OSU than we could ever give back,” John says. “A quality education and wonderful friends. Caroline and I met there. We have deep feelings for OSU. And there are needs at OSU, both in academics and athletics. We want the programs to grow and to have scholarships, both academic and athletic. We recognize that we didn’t get to where we are on our own. Family, friends, institutions, corporations and others helped along the way.” “We support academics and athletics at OSU, particularly scholarships for those who cannot afford an education,” says Caroline. In addition to providing financial support, they both give their time to OSU. Caroline is an OSU Foundation Governor and a member of the College of Education Associates. John is an OSU Foundation Trustee and Governor, a member of the College of Education Associates, School of Business Associates and a member of the School of Accounting Advisory Board. Though they give both financially and of their time to Oklahoma State, they work hardest at providing the university’s most precious resource: future alumni. And they start with their own family. The Linehans have three children and 10 grandchildren, and they work tirelessly at getting them hooked on Orange. Their oldest granddaughter, who is 18 and lives in Kansas City, Mo., will attend OSU in the fall. Another of their grandchildren lives in Omaha, Neb., and he has already told them he’s tired of being surrounded all the Nebraska red and is “orange to the bone.” “When they’re young, we encourage them to come to OSU,” says Caroline. “We send them all shirts and sign them up for Pistol Pete Partners and Grandparents’ University.” John and Caroline are looking forward to living in Stillwater again.

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MariaTrejo

Women’sTrack

EL CAMINOLARGO (the long run)

aria Trejo knows all about el camino largo – the long run. The fifth-year senior admits she was a long shot to attend college, let alone earn a degree with plans for postgraduate studies. And as an unheralded walk-on to the OSU women’s track and cross country teams, it was questionable whether she could even make it as a Division I student-athlete. Born in Guanajuato, Mexico, Trejo and her family moved to the United States when she was three years old. The third-oldest of German and Maria Aurora Trejo’s eight children, she got into running as a junior high student in Bedford, Texas. “I wanted to get involved in athletics, but I wasn’t good at anything else,” Trejo says. “So they put me in running. I liked it, so I stuck to it.” In high school, Trejo was one of her team’s top runners, but her times weren’t fast enough for college coaches to take notice. When a high school teammate applied to Oklahoma State, Trejo became intrigued with the notion of life beyond Bedford. “I used to always say I was going to go to college, but at the same time I didn’t know if I would be able to do it,” she recalls. “No one in my family had ever gone to college. I just wanted to go to OSU because my friend was going here. I didn’t really know anything about it – it just sounded exciting.” Trejo was accepted to OSU and began classes in the fall of 2003, but figured competing for the Cowgirls wasn’t in the cards. “I knew I wanted to at least keep running on my own, but I didn’t think about being on the team because I wasn’t very good.” Cowgirl head coach Rene Sepulveda had been on the job just a week before the start of the 2003 season. Attrition from a coaching change had gutted the women’s cross country and track programs, and Sepulveda found himself in dire need of bodies. The call went out for walk-ons. “When I showed up in August almost all of the girls had left,” Sepulveda says. “I think Maria and some other girls heard through the grapevine that they could go out for cross country, because we essentially didn’t even have a team. I remember Maria and her friend walking into my office and asking, ‘Can we come out for cross country?’ I asked what their high school times were, and both of them said they were really bad. But we needed numbers, so I said they were more than welcome. We just needed a team.” The transition to the Big 12 level was difficult for the newcomers. “We were not very good that year – everyone was a walk-on,” Trejo says. “It’s a lot different than high school. We ran a lot more. I remember the first time Coach said we were going to run for 90 minutes, and I was like, oh my gosh, I had never run past 40 minutes before – I can’t imagine running for 90 minutes!” “As far as running goes, Maria’s self-esteem was just nothing – zero – and she was really weak,” Sepulveda says, “but she fell-in with that group of walk-ons, and that’s probably her saving grace. A girl like that, Photography by Phil Shockley

MariaTrejo

coming in to an established team like the one we have now, probably would’ve quit. But because we needed her that first year, she went to all the meets and got to go to the Big 12 Championships. She was just in the right situation to be able to come in and compete.” As a freshman, Trejo ran a time of 26:31 at the conference cross country meet, finishing in 87th place. The team finished last in the league, but their spirit was never broken. “The first year I really spoiled that walkon group,” Sepulveda says. “Even though we were getting beat all the time, it was still a really fun year working with them. As a coach, that was probably my most rewarding

in, a lot of the walk-ons eventually quit.” “When I brought in new girls, they kind of saw the writing on the wall,” Sepulveda says. “Most of the walk-ons weren’t going to get to go to the good travel meets or the Big 12’s, but I had room for a couple of girls if they wanted to do it. Maria was one of them.” Trejo shaved 48 seconds off her 6K time at the 2004 conference championships, finishing in 25:43, showing improvement despite finishing 90th. Meanwhile, the Cowgirl team made incredible strides to finish in third place. However, the burden of balancing her cross country training and classroom commitments plus a 20-hour-per-week job at Edmon Low Library – was taking its toll on Trejo. “There’s not a lot of free time during the week,” she says. “I get up in the morning, go running, go to class, go to work, go to practice, and the evenings are spent doing homework.” “Maria wanted to quit after her second year and just work and go to school,” Sepulveda recalls.

“I’ve run times that I couldn’t imagine running in high school. I wouldn’t have believed it five years ago if they would’ve told me all this would happen.” — Maria Trejo season. I saw these little girls who were just terrible at the beginning of the year … and by the end of that year we almost beat (11th place) Iowa State. So it was really a fun year.” Trejo agrees. “It was hard, but it was a lot of fun,” she says. “That year was probably one of the most fun years in cross country that I’ve had.” The next season, many of the original walk-ons had been supplanted by recruited runners. “I’m the only one left from that first year,” she says. “Once new recruits started coming

“It got a lot harder because that’s the year he had more recruits come in,” Trejo says. “Instead of being with all walk-ons who were at the same pace, there were a lot better runners. That got harder, along with working and school and trying to go to practice, too. I was ready just to run on my own, but he talked me out of it, and I’m so glad he did.” “After her second season, she started to believe in herself a little bit and started to improve. I convinced her to try one more year and gave her some scholarship money to keep her interested and sort of bribe her to keep run-

ning,” Sepulveda adds. “You could see that there was still something left in her. She had some talent, but needed several years to get stronger, so we decided to redshirt her in 2005.” “He put me on a partial scholarship, so that helped a lot,” Trejo says. “That’s when I started focusing on running and school and stopped working. I just got stronger, and I think I realized how much more I wanted it. I was more focused and my workouts in the summer were a lot better.” As a junior in 2006, Trejo moved up to 49th place overall in the conference, running the 6K in 22:53 as the Cowgirls finished 4th as a team. As a senior this past fall, she was OSU’s third finisher at the Big 12 and NCAA Regional meets, finishing in 22:08 (36th) and 21:27 (37th), respectively. The Cowgirl squad took 5th in both the league and Midwest Regional. “Across the board, she probably improved the most of anybody in the Big 12. She made a huge jump, improving over five minutes from her freshman year in the Big 12 Championships and 100 places in the NCAA Regional meet,” Sepulveda says. “Typically walk-ons at Maria’s level never stay and rarely have that kind of improvement. That’s pretty unique.” “To think back to where I came from in high school and to think that I scored on the team in Division I, that’s something I’m really proud of,” she says. “I’ve run times that I couldn’t imagine running in high school. I wouldn’t have believed it five years ago if they would’ve told me all this would happen.” This spring, Trejo will compete in the 10K on the track. “If she stays healthy, she could possibly pick up some points,” Sepulveda says. “Track is harder to score in than cross country, because it’s only the top eight finishers in her event, where in cross country it’s how you score in the top five on your team.” Sepulveda says Trejo has many of the qualities he looks for in elite distance runners. “Maria doesn’t have a lot of speed, but she has natural endurance, and her recovery rate is one of the best I’ve ever seen. She also has a natural running body. Those are really hard to find in somebody, especially for a walk-on. Plus, she is a good student and has a good head on her shoulders, and she actually enjoys running. You really have to enjoy going out and running 16-17 miles every day and enduring that. “Maria is a role model and an example for anyone who’s walking-on to a team, that if you come out and you have to have a little bit of talent, if you just stay with it, you can succeed.”

Trejo is also a role model for young Hispanic women in general, Sepulveda says. “There’s only a handful of Hispanic girls who are really competing on the Big 12 level,” he says, “so when a Hispanic girl comes out for the sport, she doesn’t see too many others out there. Compared to the rates that live in those states, especially Texas, there should be more Latina student-athletes. That’s kind of discouraging. I see them when they’re young, maybe eighth graders or freshmen, but for some reason they don’t continue in sports. A lot of the girls don’t want to travel that far from home … For a lot of Hispanic kids, I think their families and their parents just tell them to get a job, this running thing isn’t going to lead to anything.” Trejo is one of those girls who defied the odds. “Being Hispanic myself, I think I understood her cultural background and understood a lot of what she was up against even to stay out for cross country,” Sepulveda says. “What I see with a lot of Hispanic kids is that they go off to college and they miss their family and their social network and end up going back home. I remember her telling me her first year that her mom and her brother were wondering, ‘why are you doing this’ or ‘what is this sport going to do for you?’ I think that support had to come from teammates and coaches just telling her to hang in there and encouraging her to stay with it. I think my role was to push her and give a lot of positive reinforcement.” “My parents got divorced when I was in eighth grade, so it’s just been my mom for the last 10 years or so,” Trejo says. “I don’t think my mom realized how much I liked running until I started competing in college. She wasn’t very involved in it, but she understands now how much it means to me.” In May, Trejo will earn a degree in Nutritional Sciences and has plans to go to graduate school to become a dietician. “I like to exercise and stuff, so I chose the option of Dietetics and Exercise Science, and I’m really glad I did,” she says. “I’m hoping to get a job as a nutritionist to get some experience and hopefully get an internship next year. “I’m really excited about graduating, but at the same time it’s kind of sad to leave,” she adds. “It’s been a lot of fun. I’m going to miss being on the team and miss getting up at six every morning and going for runs, traveling and running in the Cowboy Jamboree, which is one if my favorite races.” Trejo says the many sacrifices she’s made over the past five years are an example to others. “I have quite a bit of student loans, but it was so worth it. For the people who think it’s too expensive and they can’t do it, it can be done. It’s definitely possible.” Trejo’s positive influence has also been seen in her own home. “I think I’ve been a good influence on my

younger sisters and brother,” she adds. “My mom will say, ‘you’ve got to do your homework if you want to go to college like your sister,’ so she definitely uses me as an example to motivate them.” In 2006, the four oldest Trejo children became US citizens. “We all did it together as a family,” she says. “The ceremony was neat. They named each country (of origin) and had us stand up. I’m very proud of where I’m from.” In the long run, Trejo has proven that perseverance pays off – not just on the cross country course, but on the road of life. “Looking back, it was a great invest-

ment,” Sepulveda says. “As a coach, when you finish the day, sometimes you secondguess yourself. Sometimes you wonder if your kids really appreciate that scholarship. Honestly, most of them could’ve gone to another school and probably gotten the same degree and same opportunities … But with a girl like Maria, I definitely can say that the money that we offered her – and we gave her a pretty big scholarship this year – helped her achieve her goals. I’m really proud of the money we spent there, because with Maria it was clearly the right decision. She’ll be an ambassador for OSU.”

Clay Billman

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POSSEMEMBERS: Charles Tegeler

There are fans, and then there’s ... Many generations have played for the Cowboys since 1957, and Charles Tegeler, 68, has seen them all. On game days you can find Charles sitting under the JumboTron. He has missed only two home football games since he started college at OSU in 1957. Charles didn’t have any intention of attending more than 300 OSU home games in the past 50 years. Were he a player, his streak would be compared to the starts of Brett Favre in the NFL – a record that might never be broken. At the beginning of his streak, Charles came to the games as a student. After graduating in 1961, he moved to Tulsa, but his sister lived in Stillwater, and he held onto his season tickets. By the time his children came to OSU, it was only natural to not only hold season tickets, but to attend every home game. “We rarely go to road games, but we love going to home games,” Charles says. The day usually starts with carpooling to Stillwater from Tulsa with a few friends. Charles and his wife’ Darlene, eat at the Student Union and then head to the game. “Our family bleeds orange,” Darlene says. Charles and Darlene met in high school and then came to OSU together. They graduated from college in 1961 on a Sunday and mar-

ried on a Monday. They later moved to Tulsa. In October 1982, Charles had to attend a conference and missed his first home game in 1982. When he missed his second game in the fall of 1988, Barry Sanders was playing his junior year at OSU and Tegeler was disappointed to miss seeing the Hall of Fame running back play. “I like going when we have an outstanding player and we are winning,” Charles says. Last year, 2007, was the first season Charles didn’t buy season tickets, but that didn’t stop him from attending every home game. Charles

“Our family bleeds orange.” —Darlene Tegeler Photography by Gary Lawson

has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease. ALS is a progressive neuromuscular disease that weakens and eventually destroys motor neurons. “With Charles’s health, we weren’t sure we would be able to attend all the games last season,” Darlene says. They are going to try and keep attending home games as long as they are able. Boone Pickens Stadium will look forward to seeing Charles in the fall. Lonna Mann

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HOME on the

RANGE Johnson & Johnson Bleed Orange on the Greens

By Clay Billman

hen Mike McGraw took over as the Oklahoma State women’s golf coach in the fall of 2004, he found a letter waiting for him at Karsten Creek. “On my desk that day was a letter from Amanda Johnson,” McGraw recalls. Johnson, then a high schooler from Tulsa, had finished fifth in the state golf tournament for 6A Jenks as a junior. McGraw says that feat alone wouldn’t typically raise the interest of recruiters, but he noticed several other key elements in her résumé. “I saw that she had only been playing serious competitive golf for just a couple of years,” he says. “She was also a cheerleader and had run cross country, so I thought she must be athletic, which is good. I started recruiting her, and before I knew it she was turning into quite a player. By the time Amanda won the state high school champion-

ship that spring, she’d already signed to come to Oklahoma State.” “It wasn’t until my junior year of high school that I got really serious about golf and decided I wanted to play in college,” Amanda says. “OSU was the place I wanted to be.” In an interesting twist, by the time Mark Johnson showed up on recruiters’ radar in 2006, Coach McGraw had taken the reins of the OSU men’s program. “I asked Amanda about her brother every once in a while and had watched Mark play some tournaments,” McGraw says. “But at the time we still had (All-Americans) Pablo Martin and Jonathan Moore, and I thought those guys were staying for a couple more years. Plus, we had recruits Rickie Fowler and Kevin Tway already committed.” With the Cowboys’ cupboard full, and scholarship offers from a number of other Big 12 schools, Johnson was ready to head out of state. “I didn’t really see myself coming here,” Mark admits.

OSU’s rich roster quickly thinned, however. McGraw’s Cowboys claimed the 2006 NCAA Championship, with Moore earning medalist honors as a redshirt freshman. On the heels of their success, Martin and Moore left OSU to pursue professional opportunities, and McGraw suddenly had available scholarships. “The coaches would ask me about his visits and where he was going,” Amanda says. “You could tell they were trying to get the inside information.” McGraw says he kept an eye on Mark, but wasn’t actively recruiting him – until another twist of fate helped Johnson showcase his talents for the Cowboy coaching staff. As a high school junior, Mark was pitted against OSU assistant Alan Bratton in the 2006 Oklahoma State Amateur Golf Tournament. “Alan won the state amateur, and beat Mark 5-and-4 in the semi-finals,” McGraw says. “I asked Alan how he looked, and he said he’s a good player, we really need to pay attention to him.” Johnson’s own persistence helped seal the deal, McGraw says. “Mark called me about a week or so later. He talked me into a campus visit, and before I knew it that kid was an Oklahoma State Cowboy.” “OSU men’s golf has been unbelievable, and if there’s one school you want to go to, it’s here,” Mark says. “It just so happens it’s close to home. I visited a lot of other schools, but this one just fit.” Looking back, McGraw says he is surprised by the series of circumstances that brought the siblings to OSU. “In July of 2004, if you would’ve told me that the two of them would end up at Oklahoma State, I never would’ve believed it. It’s really a good turn of events. I always figured that if Amanda was having a good experience at Oklahoma State, then Mark

Photography by Phil Shockley

might be interested anyway.” “She didn’t really influence my decision that much,” Mark says, “It’s good to be here with her, though.” “I tried to let him make his own decision,” Amanda says. “I didn’t want to push it too much in case I pushed him away.”

ON COURSE Last season, Amanda saved her best performances for late in the year. The sophomore carded back-to-back Top 10 finishes at the Big 12 Championships (8th) and NCAA West Regional (7th). Her efforts helped the Cowgirls claim the Regional trophy. “Amanda played great,” says current Cowgirl Head Coach Laura Matthews. “It was definitely really big for her to step up and play as well as she did when it mattered. Plus,

it was our first-ever NCAA Regional win, and she was a big part of that. It was a lot of fun and hopefully we can do it again this year.” Mark recently earned a Top 10 finish at the 2008 Morris Williams Intercollegiate tournament. As part of a talented freshman class, his play during his rookie season has impressed his coach. “Mark is a very natural player. He plays by feel,” McGraw says. “We’re working on his short game, but he drives the ball extremely well. He’s very strong. He’s got good composure on the golf course. He’s got a lot of positives. If he can tighten up that short game a little bit, I think he’s going to be a pretty good player.” “My ball striking is probably the best part of my game,” Mark agrees. “I’ve improved my putting, so now we’re just narrowing it down to chipping. Once I get everything filled in, I should start playing some pretty good golf. It’s getting close.”

“Mark’s personality is pretty laid back,” Amanda says. “Nothing really phases him. He just kind of goes with the flow, which I think shows in his golf, too. If things start going wrong he just moves on to the next hole.” The twosome played golf often as youngsters, and still practice together at Karsten Creek when they can. Amanda says she’s looks at her younger brother’s game to help improve her own. “There weren’t too many girls to play with growing up, so I would always play with Mark and his friends in Tulsa,” Amanda says. “I learn a lot from him, actually. I just go out and watch him. He’s so good with his feel out there and correcting things. If he sees something going wrong in his swing he can correct it on the course, so I try to pick up on that.” “We just go and play,” Mark adds. “If she is doing something wrong I’ll help her. If I am doing something wrong, she’ll say something.” Amanda says she is constantly working on her short game. “The more you can improve that, the better,” she says. “You’ll shave off strokes like that. I need to work on my putting – cut down on the three-putts – and improve my chipping as well.”

Coach Matthews says Amanda’s skills have improved dramatically since she arrived at OSU. “When she first got here she was obviously a very good high school player, but I think maybe the transition into college golf was a little difficult. She had a lot of areas to work on in her game, and she worked really hard on them. Her overall game in general has really taken off since her first year. She’s very coachable.” In 2007, Amanda was named to the AllAmerican Scholar Team by the National Golf Coaches Association, an organization that promotes women’s collegiate golf.

“If you wish to hide your character, do not play golf.” — Percy Boomer “Amanda’s extremely smart,” McGraw adds. “She’s pretty resourceful, so that helps out when you’re trying to figure out how to be the best golfer you can be.” “My sister has never had a B in her entire life,” Mark says, “which is not very good for me, because she set the standard way too high. She’s good at golf, does her job in the classroom and does everything she needs to do.”

GREENS and ORANGE Golf has always been a family affair for the Johnsons. “Actually Mark was hitting golf balls when he was very little,” says their mother, Louise. “We have a video where he’s running around in the back yard in his diaper hitting little plastic golf balls. He’d hit it from one side of the yard to the other and run up there, turn around and hit it back. So he’s always been interested in it. “Amanda didn’t really pick it up until about 10 years old after Mark started playing in junior golf tournaments,” she says. “We noticed there weren’t very many girls playing, so we told Amanda that if she would get interested in golf, she could probably win a trophy. That was pretty much all it took. After that, Mark and Amanda would go out to the golf course and play together all the time. They’ve always gotten along really well.” As Amanda and Mark progressed as teenagers on the junior golf circuit, their mother thought they might have a chance to play at the collegiate level. She never dreamed it would be at her alma mater. “I remember when Amanda came back from her recruiting visit and said they offered her a spot. We were really excited ... I’m thrilled they’re both there together. It’s a great oppor-

tunity for the kids to be able to be students and athletes and to enjoy that kind of atmosphere. I don’t think you can have better mentors than what the OSU coaches are for those kids.” Orange also runs in the family. Louise (Monney) is a 1978 graduate of OSU. Their father, David, attended a different Big 12 school. “Dave has actually come over to the orange side,” she says. “Now I’ve even got him wearing orange shirts.” The proud parents try to attend every one of their children’s collegiate events. “They go to every tournament. They don’t miss one,” Amanda says. “I call them professional spectators. It’s like their job.” The family also enjoys following the Cowboys and Cowgirls in other sports. “We love being connected to OSU Athletics through the POSSE,” Louise says. “A lot of our friends are OSU fans so we have watch parties and go to the basketball games, football games, wrestling matches … it’s been a lot of fun.” “They’re just a very solid family,” McGraw says. “It’s a win-win situation for everybody.”

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ColemanScott

GREAT Scott! 72

Oklahoma State wrestler Coleman Scott ends career as an NCAA champion.

or Oklahoma State four-time AllAmerican Coleman Scott, the 2008 wrestling season was about one thing — winning a national championship. Not only did he accomplish that goal, but he did it in the most dominating fashion possible, pinning fourth-seeded Joey Slaton of Iowa in a mere 49 seconds in the NCAA title match. “I felt great. I prepared, I did everything right, and coach always stresses that if you’re taking someone down, look to take them to their back and keep them there and get the pin because bonus points are big,” Scott says. Needing only 49 seconds to pin Slaton in the championship match, Scott recorded the fastest fall in an NCAA title bout in 30 years. Scott’s championship pin was the fastest since Ohio University’s Andy Daniels pinned CalState Bakersfield’s John Azevedo in 30 seconds for the 118-pound title in 1978. Scott’s career with the Cowboys included most every honor a wrestler can accumulate. He was a starter on two NCAA title teams with the Cowboys in 2005 and 2006. He earned AllAmerica honors in each of his four seasons at OSU, making him only the 12th Cowboy to ever accomplish the feat. He was a two-time Big 12 Conference champion. The one thing that was missing from his career slate was an individual national title. Now that he won a title, would he include himself on the list of Oklahoma State wrestling greats? “Every day I walk into practice and see a picture of every national champ,” says Scott. “I Wrestling

couldn’t tell you how many there are, but there’s a lot of guys that are better than me. I worked hard and achieved my goal, and that’s what I had to do.” OSU coach John Smith says Scott overcame several hurdles during the season on the way to his title, but the fact that he still prevailed is a testament to his strong character. “That’s an exciting time for everybody when you have guys win NCAA championships because that’s what their entire lives have been about, and you take a lot of pride in saving your best for last,” Smith says. “Coleman’s demeanor before the match when he saw that stage he just kind of lit up and looked like a young man on a mission when he stepped out.” Scott says he used the adversity he faced during the season as motivation to improve. Among the things he had to contend with during the 2007-08 season was a knee injury that sidelined him for some early-season competitions, a regular-season loss to an unranked wrestler and a loss to another unranked wrestler in the first round of the Big 12 Championship. “It just made me work harder and realize I have to just keep getting better every day in doing what I have to do to win that title,” Scott says. “Once nationals came, I forgot about that stuff and just kept telling myself that I was still the best guy in the weight class and had to prove it, so that was my whole mindset going in.” Smith said Scott’s focus level improved in the time between his first-round loss at the Big 12 Championship and the NCAA Championship. “He definitely jumped a level after the Big 12, just mentally. You want to see that from all your wrestlers,” Smith says. “He identified real quickly that his attitude on the mat wasn’t what it needed to be. It wasn’t so much because he got

beat at the Big 12, it was more that he let little things that happened in the match disturb him. He seemed to get upset and was maybe doing everything for the wrong reason, like this was something he had to do instead of being something he wanted to do. The week prior to his championship, there wasn’t any question that we saw him take it to a new level mentally and in his workouts and total focus on what he had to do to be the best.” Now that he owns the title of NCAA champion, Scott says his next goal is to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team for the 2008 Games in Beijing. He says winning the NCAA title can help provide momentum for his training for the Olympic Trials in Las Vegas this June. “It’s good to end my career on a high note, and I’m going to keep it going by having a good tournament out in Las Vegas at the trials,” Scott says. “I’m real excited about that.” Scott was one of four Cowboys to earn All-America honors this year, joined by senior Nathan Morgan, who earned the third All-America honor of his career by placing fourth, senior Jack Jensen, who earned his first All-America honor by taking seventh and sophomore Jared Rosholt, who placed fourth at heavyweight to secure his first career AllAmerica honor. “This is awesome. It’s what you dream about,” Scott says. “When you go to sleep at night and stuff is going through your head, that’s what you picture, getting that pin. That’s what you want and everything worked out perfectly. “I didn’t take any shortcuts this year, and it paid off in the end.” Gavin Lang

73 COLEMAN SCOTT

CAREER CAPSULE  2008 NCAA Champion (133 pounds)  Starter on two NCAA championship teams (2005, 2006)  12th four-time All-American in Oklahoma State history  Two-time NCAA finalist (2007, 2008)  Two-time Big 12 Champion (2005, 2007)  117-22 career record  33-4 record as a senior  Big 12 Wrestler of the Week (Jan. 29-Feb. 4, 2008)  29-10 record in last 39 matches vs. ranked opponents, including a 10-1 record vs. ranked opponents his senior year

“That’s an exciting time for everybody when you have guys win NCAA championships because that’s what their entire lives have been about, and you take a lot of pride in saving your best for last.” — John Smith

WELCOME, COACH FORD.

Photo by Gary Lawson

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OSU Athletics Priority Point System The Priority Point System provides a fair, consistent and transparent method of providing beneﬁts to donors in exchange for their ﬁnancial investments in OSU Athletics. Donors gain points three ways: • Contributions: All current and lifetime contributions (cash or stock) are worth 3 points per $100 donated. Planned (deferred) gifts in the new Leave a Legacy Endowment Campaign will receive 1 point per $100. • Commitment: Donors will earn one point each year for each season ticket purchase and one point for each year of POSSE donations. • Connection with the University: Donors (or their spouses) who are OSU Alumni receive a one-time 10 point bonus, as do OSU faculty/ staff and letterwinners. Points never diminish and will carry over to subsequent years. Donors retain all previously earned Priority Points in their giving history. For questions about the POSSE Priority Point System, e-mail posse@okstate.edu or call us at 405-744-7301.

LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR CHAMPIONSHIPS. Glad to be part of the team.

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POSSEMEMBERS: Bill & Karen Anderson

Appreciation for Education has been said individuals are the sum of their experiences. For Bill and Karen Anderson, their experiences have led to a strong appreciation for education and Oklahoma State Athletics. 80

This affinity may have started before they were even born, perhaps as far back as the Great Depression. Karen’s father, former Oklahoma A&M Regent Veldo Brewer, received his degree from Oklahoma A&M in Civil Engineering in 1930, shortly after the onset of the Depression. It was her father’s OSU education that kept her family from the dire situations facing many during the Depression era. Brewer, with college degree in hand, eventually started a bridge construction firm. His family was fortunate, which afforded them many opportunities to help support OSU. “Living through those hard times gave my dad and mother a real appreciation for higher education,” Karen says. “At a young age, I well remember attending the annual OSU (A&M) - OU football games in Stillwater with my parents. The weather would be brutally cold, and my mother and I would take refuge in the Library restroom, thawing out standing next to one of the steam radiators.” Early childhood experiences like these helped cement Karen’s love for OSU. In turn, she passed it along to her children and grandchildren. “Being an only child, I quickly became a member of an extended family as an Oklahoma State legacy,” says Karen. “My parents and I traveled to Stillwater frequently for ball games and my dad’s meetings. He became quite active in the OSU Alumni Association serving as both National President and the Alumni Representative to the Athletic Council. His involvement in the College of Engineering also led to his induction into the Engineering Hall of Fame. Governor (Henry) Bellmon appointed him to the A&M Board of Regents to fill out a term, 80

which was ‘the icing on the cake’ for my dad. “However, my parents were most proud to be able to bring high school students who had expressed a desire to attend OSU to Stillwater from Hughes County. They would bring them up for a weekend, staying at the Student Union Hotel, and my dad would take the students to the different colleges to introduce them for a one-on-one visit with the dean or associate dean. He became known as ‘Mr. OSU’ in Hughes County with parents and former students still remembering my folks’ interest and help.” After growing up in Holdenville and graduating as a top-10 student in 1959, Karen enrolled at OSU. She and Bill married in 1961 and both completed their degrees from OSU in 1963. Bill graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering, while Karen received her degree in Secondary Education, majoring in English. Like the Brewers, OSU has always been a family affair for the Andersons. Bill’s uncle, Al Waddill, put the first two ducks on Theta Pond. Both of their sons, Bill IV (’88) and Mike (’91), and their wives, Dana (’90) and Debbie (’91) are OSU graduates. Don’t be surprised to find the next generation of Andersons walking across the stage at a commencement ceremony in Gallagher-Iba. Their grandchildren have attended OSU’s Grandparent University with Bill and Karen for the past five years. “OSU means to me not only a place to get a great education, but also to be a part of a group of people who are family,” Bill says. Upon graduation in 1963, Bill, Karen and their oldest son moved back to Holdenville. Bill became an engineer-in-training with Oklahoma Department of Transportation, before he accepted a job with Karen’s father’s firm. Shortly after moving back to Holdenville, Karen started teaching. “I enjoyed teaching 8th grade and high school English, as well as sponsoring the middle school pep club, cheerleaders and yearbook for 25 years in Holdenville and one year in Okmulgee,” says Karen. “When the Oklahoma Legislature passed the revolutionary House Bill 1017, it mandated there would be Library Media Specialists in all elementary schools. My superintendent asked me if I would commit to go back to graduate school for my library media credentials to become Holdenville’s first elemen-

tary library media specialist.” While the Anderson family has always had a strong understanding of the importance of education, their enthusiasm for the Cowboys and Cowgirls has been just as strong, filled by many memorable moments. “Bill and I were among the original chairback purchasers and have not missed a bowl game since attending the 1971 Tangerine Bowl,” Karen says. “We have been continual season ticket holders for football, men’s basketball, wrestling and baseball since the 1980s. Also, we have been fortunate to follow our Cowboys during the post-season in football, basketball and baseball all these years. Now we are thrilled to follow the women’s basketball team post-season as we traveled to East Lansing, Michigan, last year and to the Sweet Sixteen in New Orleans.

Photo courtesy of James Schammerhorn

We have been privileged to share so many unforgettable memories with OSU Athletics, including bowl games, two Final Fours, seven consecutive College World Series and the fourth consecutive NCAA Wrestling Championship.” While the Andersons are proud of the on-field accomplishments of many OSU student-athletes, one game has stayed with them. For them, this game epitomized the strength and resiliency of OSU and its athletic programs. “I was most proud to be a member of the OSU family when our men’s basketball team reached down through the depths of their grief to post a victory over Missouri right after the devastating loss of ten men in the Colorado plane crash,” Karen says. “Coach (Eddie) Sutton, President (James) Halligan and Andre Williams demonstrated such strength of charac-

ter to lead the OSU family through that crisis.” Ask any OSU student-athlete, coach or staff member about the Andersons and they will tell you the same thing. They are humble, loyal and proud of their University and its athletic programs. “We truly appreciate all that Bill and Karen Anderson have done for OSU Athletics over the years,” says Ellen Ayres, POSSE donor relations coordinator. “They are highly regarded for their loyalty and generosity.” Their generous support is grounded by a belief in OSU, athletics and education. They see a natural synergy between the three. “We believe as alumni and long-time POSSE members we should support our student-athletes who work so hard for our school and themselves,” Karen says. “(Our alumni and fans should) not only support the higher profile

sports as football, men’s and women’s basketball, wrestling and baseball, but also men’s and women’s track, tennis, softball and women’s golf.” “Were it not for athletics, many young folks would have limited opportunities to better themselves,” says Bill. “Many times, the athletic field has been our student-athletes’ ticket to better things.” Why do the Andersons financially support Oklahoma State Athletics? They know the value of education. They have seen investments in education give both of their families – immediate and OSU – a fulfilling and productive life.

WRAY.VINGS

SUGAR, SPICE AND EVERYTHING NICE — YEAH RIGHT. That may describe the kindergarten, Baby Gap-adorned little girl behind the lemonade stand in your neighborhood. It does not describe Kurt Budke’s Cowgirl basketball team. Just ask Sylvia Fowles of LSU. The Tigers may have stopped the Cowgirls from advancing to the Elite Eight, but the Baton Rouge behemoth was sore the next day. I have seen Big 12 running backs take less punishment than our Cowgirls handed out during the Sweet 16 performance. Each time Sylvia attempted to cross the lane, a host of players converged on her and left her bruised and battered. This is not your grandfather’s brand of women’s basketball. The Cowgirls are a bunch of talented, graceful players. They have great athleticism. They are also a blue-collar, pack-your-lunch pail-and-thermos kind of team. “Team” being the key word. On more than one occasion, Coach Budke has told me each girl on the team would

“run through a brick wall” if that is what the coaches asked. Th at shows on the court. Have you ever been to a restaurant and watched a young lady order a half of a cucumber sandwich and a glass of water? She’s not on this team either. These women can put away some groceries. If you and I ate like some of these young ladies, we would be a biscuit away from 500 pounds. The eff ort they put out requires a large fuel intake. Basketball may be their favorite past-time, but eating is a close second. You can take the you’re-a-sissy-and-throwlike-a-girl stereotype and throw it out the window. There is an inherent toughness to each team member and to the team collectively. Trust me, if I took a wrong turn down a dark alley somewhere, I would want Maria Cordero, Danielle Green, Megan Byford and Taylor Hardeman on my side. Th roughout the Big 12 tournament wins over Kansas and Texas A&M, the Cowgirls displayed a grit and determination any team in any sport would be proud of. As Don Meredith used to say, “Who’d have thunk it?”

The Cowgirls in the Big 12 championship and on to the Sweet 16? Not in a million years. It took Coach Budke only three. This brings me to my final point — Kurt Budke is the real deal. He is outgoing, but unassuming. He is a great recruiter and impressive strategist. He is good with people because he is easy to like. It is an impressive combination: A coach with all the tools to expect to win; a team of women who love to play the game and embrace an aw-shucks-you-want-my-autograph refreshing attitude the NCAA would be proud of. If other places in the country (Tennessee, Connecticut) have the players and coaches we have, it’s easy to see why they fill up arenas. Better buy your tickets now. You’ll want to be around when they start hanging banners for women’s basketball in Gallagher-Iba Arena. Kyle Wray

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