Jan. 26, 2011

CORVALLIS, Ore. - For the second straight year, Oregon State has football student-athletes training outside of football workouts to represent the Beavers at several regular season track and field meets.

Junior-to-be wide receiver Jordan Bishop became the first student-athlete to be named an All-American in track and field since 1986 when Connie Peterka received All-American honors in javelin and John Thomas did it in the hammer throw. Bishop tied for ninth at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships when he cleared a height of 7-01.50 setting a personal best.

Also competing in the high jump will be fellow wide receiver Obum (oh-BOOM) Gwacham (Gwatch-em) while Keynan (Keenan) Parker, Rashaad Reynolds and Markus Wheaton will run the 60 meters. Gwacham missed out on advancing to the NCAA Championships when he lost a tie breaker to Bishop at the NCAA West Regional.

Parker and Reynolds both ran the 60 meters last year during indoor events while Wheaton ran the 60 meters indoors and ran the 200 meters at the Pac-10 Outdoor Championships where he finished sixth in his heat and 16th overall.

All five student-athletes will have the opportunity to compete in three indoor track events at the University of Washington on Saturday, January 29, Saturday, February 12 and Saturday, March 5.

The NCAA Indoor Championship will be held March 11-12 in College Station, Texas while the NCAA Outdoor Championships will be held June 8-11 in Des Moines, Iowa.

Support Oregon State University Athletics by making your tax deductible donation to the Beaver Athletic Student Fund. For more information follow this link or call 541-737-2370. You can make an "Everyday Champion" Follow Beaver Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.