Cheval Joins Sooners as Mid-Year Transfer

NORMAN – Thomas Cheval, the Cerritos (Calif.) College Athlete of the Year, has signed a financial aid agreement with the University of Oklahoma. He will begin classes on Monday as he joins the Sooner men's track and field team as a sophomore.

Cheval set the Cerritos College school record in the decathlon in the 2014 California Community College Athletic Association state championship, breaking the record held by the current head track and field coach at Cerritos, Chris Richardson. He won the decathlon title with 7,175 points and finished seventh in the long jump at the same competition with a 22-7.25. He also was named the Cerritos College track and field most valuable athlete for 2014.

"The reason I came to OU is due to the coaches giving me an opportunity to show what I have and do what I can for the team,” Cheval said. “Mainly I would like to thank my coach at Cerritos Junior College, Chris Richardson, for seeing something that was special in me and believing that everything is possible if I put my mind to it."

A successful and versatile competitor, Cheval saved his best for the final competition of the 2014 season, the CCCAA State meet. In a highly competitive decathlon, Cheval led early, then was involved in a back and forth competition with a decathlete from Mt. San Antonio College.

Cheval trailed by 64 points heading into the final event of the two-day, 10-event test. He then ran a 4:36.90, the second best time in the 1,500, to earn 700 points, easily pushing him past the rest of the field. His 7,175 points stood as the best score in the country by a community college student-athlete at that time.

Prior to his arrival at Cerritos, Cheval was a four-time league champion in the long and triple jumps and three-time league champ in the 110-high hurdles, competing for Birmingham (Calif.) HS. He led his team in points scored for four consecutive years and won the city title in the high jump and triple jump as a senior. He reached the state championship as a senior.

OU opens the 2015 competition schedule on Saturday, Jan. 17, when the Sooners host the annual J.D. Martin Invitational.