Oklahoma State Cowboys cross country

The Oklahoma State Cowboys cross country team is the men's cross country team of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Cowboys compete in the Big 12 Conference at the Division I level in the NCAA and are currently led by 16th year head coach, Dave Smith.

The Oklahoma State men's cross country program is one of the most decorated in the country, having won six national championships and finishing runner up twice. The Cowboys have also won 18 conference titles, most recently winning the Big 12 in 2025.^[2]

The Oklahoma State men's cross country program first began in 1917, under the leadership of Ed Gallagher. The team cycled through head coaches with limited success until hiring Ralph Higgins in 1935. Under Higgins, the Cowboys would make their first NCAA Cross Country Championship appearance in 1939, where they would finish 5th. When they made their return 15 years later, they made it count, winning the 1954 national championship in a dominant performance, beating runner–up Syracuse by over 50 points.^[3]

Throughout the rest of the century and into the 2000s, the Cowboy cross country team would maintain reasonable success, winning a handful of Big Eight conference titles and making numerous NCAA championship appearances, but they struggled at posing to be a national championship threat against the likes of Arkansas, Oregon and Stanford, until Dave Smith's hiring in 2006.^[4]

The hiring of Dave Smith instantly elevated Oklahoma State into being one of the best cross country teams in the country. The Cowboys won their first conference championship in 13 years in 2008, when Smith led the team to their first Big 12 conference title.^[5] One year later, Oklahoma State finally won their second national title, winning the 2009 national championship over Oregon.^[6] The Cowboys immediately won their 3rd national title in 2010, blowing out runner-up Florida State by 120 points.^[7] After a 2nd–place finish in 2011, Oklahoma State won their third national title in four years in 2012, the school's 4th national championship overall.^[8] During this time, they dominated the Big 12, winning nine straight conference championships from 2008–16. The Cowboys resumed their dominance in 2020, winning another four straight conference titles from 2020–23 and claiming the school's 5th national championship in 2023, beating the powerhouse Northern Arizona team, 49–71.^[9] Oklahoma State would return to the peak just two years later, defeating runner-up New Mexico by 25 points to win the program's 6th national championship in 2025.^[10]

Men's Championship Results^[11]

40 Cowboy runners have received a total of 70 All-American honors, including three runners (Tom Farrell from 2010–13, Isai Rodriguez in 2018 and from 2020–22 and Victor Shitsama from 2020–23) being four–time All-American recipients.^[12]

11 Cowboy runners have won a total of 15 individual conference championships. John Halberstadt won two Big Eight conference titles in 1972 and 1973, German Fernandez won two Big 12 conference titles in 2008 and 2011, and Brian Musau has won the three most recent Big 12 conference titles in 2023, 2024 and 2025.^[13]

The Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course was unveiled in summer of 2019, and features multiple different length configurations depending on the individual runner. The course, located on the Oklahoma State campus, consists of just under one million square feet of Astro Bermuda grass and is carved through wooded areas and prairie with varying elevations.^[14]

One of the best cross country courses in the nation, the course was selected to host the 2020 and 2022 NCAA Championships, along with the 2021 Big 12 Championships. In October 2024 it was announced that the course will again be hosting the NCAA Championships, this time in 2027.^[15]

• Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls
• Oklahoma State Cowgirls cross country