Completed Event: Track and Field at Battle on the Bayou on April 3, 2026 ,
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Track and Field
at Battle on the Bayou
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Kogel Named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year
November 02, 2009 | Track and Field
Nov. 2, 2009
NORMAN, Okla. – Redshirt-freshman Bill Kogel was named 2009 Big 12 Cross Country Newcomer of the Year this past weekend at the 2009 Big 12 Championships. The honor is given to the top newcomer finisher in each race of the championships and comes after Kogel was one of three Sooners to earn All-Big 12 honors, with a top-15 finish.
Kogel, after redshirting his first year on campus, saw his first action as a Sooner at the 24th Annual Roy Griak Invitational on Sept. 26 in Minneapolis, Minn. Kogel led the Sooner men by completing the 8,000 meter course in a time of 25:06 to finish in 10th.
Kogel's performance helped the men's team to a second-place finish, defeating host and then-No. 17 Minnesota, and narrowly missing the team title as then-No. 25 Iowa State took home the title by a mere three points.
Kogel and the Sooners wrapped up regular-season competition at the 2009 Chili Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark. Kogel for the second consecutive race finished 10th while completing the 10,000 meter course with a time of 30:19.11.
With the finish, the Sooners took down host and then-No. 25 Arkansas. It was the second top-25 team that OU defeated on the year following the defeat of Minnesota.
At the 2009 Big 12 Championships in Columbia, Mo., Kogel recorded his third straight 10th-place finish while completing the muddy 8,000 meter course in a time of 25:20.65, helping the Sooner men to its highest finish ever in the Big 12 Championships as it took third Saturday. Sophomore Kevin Schwab led the way for OU, pacing the course with a time of 25:08.32 and finishing sixth overall. Schwab and Kogel's sixth and 10th-place finishes, mark the first time since the creation of the Big 12 that two Sooner runners finished among the top-10 competitors in the same Big 12 Championships.
Kogel and the Sooners will make the trip back to the state of Missouri on Nov. 14 to compete in the NCAA Midwest Regional in Springfield, Mo. The top two teams from the Midwest Regional will advance to the 2009 NCAA National Championships along with the top two teams from eight other NCAA Regionals. The remainder of the 31-team NCAA Championships field will consist of 13 at-large teams selected by the NCAA.
In addition to the teams qualifying for the NCAA Championships, thirty-six individuals automatically qualify for the race on the basis of finishing in the top four at their respective NCAA Regionals and not being on an advancing team. Two additional individuals are selected at-large by the committee to round out the field of 255 competitors. All individual qualifiers must finish in the top 25 of their event.
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