Good morning Pokes! We know Mondays can be slow, but what a week we have in store—Big 12 Media Days and the MLB Draft are just a portion of what’s on tap this week!

But before we look ahead, let’s recap an awesome weekend in Cowboy athletics with Monday’s edition of the Brew.

What is stirring in today’s edition of the Brew? Check it out!

👟 National stage
⚽️ Homecoming Queen
🏈 Countdown to kickoff
🤠 And so much more!

🎧 OSU MAX PODCASTS

The light at the end of the tunnel is coming, folks…

That’s right, we’re just 23 days away from the start of Oklahoma State football camp!

To help get us going, let’s look back on our first of our two-part sit-down with the head man himself, Mike Gundy.

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Showing Out. OSU Track & Field continues to leave its mark on the national and international scene.

The Orange and Black showed out at this past weekend’s 2023 US Championships in Eugene with three top-4 finishes and four other top-20 performances against the best the country has to offer.

Kaela Edwards earned a spot on Team USA at the World Championships with a third-place finish in the 800m with a time of 2:00.52. It was the top-finish for any OSU athlete.

Reigning world champion Chase Ealey finished fourth in the shot put with a toss of 18.62m, but her spot at the 2023 World Championships was already secure as she is an automatic bid due to her reigning world championships status.

Sinclaire Johnson narrowly missed a top-three finish, placing fourth in the 1500m with a time of 4:03.49, while former Cowboy Josh Thompson actually won the 1500m on the men’s side, however, officials declared that he touched an opponent during the race and disqualified his win.

The World Championships will take place later this summer in Budapest, Hungary from August 19-27.

🔼 Climbing the Charts. An OSU legend continues to climb the charts on the NWSL circuit as Adrianna Franch became just the fifth player in league history to reach 400 career saves.

Franch is in her third season with the Kansas City Current after starting her career in Portland with the Thorns.

🔼 No Third Wheel Here. Can’t get the season started without some preseason hype, right?

A trio of Cowboys earned exactly that when they were named to the 2023 Preseason All-Big 12 team on Wednesday. Wide receiver Brennan Presley, linebacker Collin Oliver and safety Kendal Daniels all received recognition by the conference. 

Presley returns as the team’s leading receiver from a year ago, hauling in 67 catches for 813 yards and earning Honorable Mention All-Big 12 accolades. Oliver led the team last year with five sacks and 12 quarterback hurries, while his 7.5 tackles for loss ranked fourth on the team.

Daniels was the 2022 Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year and earned FWAA Freshman All-America honors. He played in all 13 games and finished the year ranked fourth among all FBS freshmen with three interceptions and fifth among all FBS freshmen with an average of 5.5 tackles per game.

🔼 Homecoming Queen. There’s no place like home, right?

One of the best players in OSU women’s soccer history is back in Stillwater after it was announced late last week that Grace Yochum is joining the staff as the player development coordinator.
 
Yochum established herself as the most prolific scorer in Oklahoma State soccer history during her five-year career with the Cowgirls, which ended after the 2022 season. A native of Houston, Texas, Yochum capped her career by earning All-America honors in '22, becoming the sixth player in program history to achieve that feat.
 
She played 86 games in her career and also finished with 21 game-winning goals, including leading the NCAA in that category in 2021 when she netted eight en route to posting a career-high 12 goals. She collected All-Big 12 honors four times in her career, one of only six Cowgirls to ever earn that status, and she is one of four OSU players to be named All-Big 12 First Team three times.
 
In January 2023, Yochum became the second-highest NWSL Draft pick from OSU when she was selected in the second round with the 14^th overall pick by the Chicago Red Stars.

🔼 Give ‘Em A (Top) Ten. Simply put, playing at Pebble Beach is special for anyone.

Playing against the best in the world at one of women’s golf’s most prestigious events? That’s just the cherry on top.

Two former Cowgirls and current golfer Maddison Hinson-Tolchard did just that this weekend at the 78th U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach. 

Maja Stark, a 2021 alum, took home her first top-10 finish at a U.S. Women’s Open, finishing ninth with a 1-over on the weekend.

Hinson-Tolchard was one of just 28 amateurs to qualify for the weekend, recording a 14-over 158, besting seven of other amateurs, as well as 10-time major champion Annika Sorenstam.

Appearing in her 11th consecutive U.S. Women's Open, former Cowgirl Pernilla Lindberg narrowly missed the cut at 7-over.

🔼 What Is That In The Sky? Did you see it? I think this HR ball from former Cowboy Christian Encarnacion-Strand just went through Stillwater in orbit.

What a display of power from the former OSU star!

His call up could be coming soon as he is absolutely mashing in Triple-A to the tune of a .320 average, 20 HRs and 58 RBIs.

Keep that phone charged up Christian!

🤠 A YEAR TO REMEMBER

46 All-Americans. 23 Big 12 Individual Champions. 6 Big 12 Champions. School Record 10 Academic All-Americans.

What a year it was for OSU and on Wednesday, that got even better as the Cowboys set a new school record by finishing in the top-25 nationally in the final 2022-23 Learfield Directors' Cup standings.

It marks the first time since the standings were created that the Pokes finished in the top-25 nationally in three straight years. The Learfield Directors' Cup honors institutions having success in all sports in which the NCAA offers a championship, along with FBS football. All sports are weighted equally.

Because Oklahoma State does not sponsor women's volleyball and does not get credit for its performance in equestrian, it has only 17 sports eligible for Learfield Directors' Cup scoring, while most others count points from 19 sports. Operating with a two-sport handicap, Oklahoma State has still finished in the top 25 nationally in each of the last three years and has finished in the top three of the Big 12 in each of the last five years.

🏈 COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: 54 DAYS

The defenders in the picture above is just one summation of the 1988 Oklahoma State football team as the Cowboys left many defenders in dust ALL SEASON LONG.

Coming into that season, the national audience had not given much thought to OSU.

After a 4-0 start, that changed as the Cowboys earned a top-15 ranking and marched on to a 10-2 record and a dominating win in the Holiday Bowl.

Oh yeah, and all they did was run for 54 RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS, a program record that still stands to this day.

Apparently, some guy named Sanders had a pretty good year?

🤔 COWBOY TRIVIA

Alright, so we spent some time and apparently this Barry Sanders guy was pretty good after all.

42 of those 54 rushing touchdowns came in the hands of Mr. Sanders, a NCAA record that still stands.

That mark and much more led to him taking home the 1988 Heisman Trophy award.

Our question, do you know who has the second most single-season rushing TDs in program history?

Think you got it?

Scroll on down to the bottom of this email for the answer!

🎥 OSU MAX

Any time any one reaches 150 coaching victories on the gridiron, it’s special.

To do it at your alma mater? Not much more can be said.

Last year, in the season opener, the offensive fireworks were on display and helped Coach Gundy celebrate his 150 career victory at Oklahoma State.

Let’s relive that special day and go behind the scenes with OSU Max.

🎥 OSU Access: A Milestone Win

📬 STICK WITH US

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🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Our guy Terry Miller of course!

That’s right, Terry Miller, who will go into the OSU Ring of Honor this fall, rushed for 27 TDs in 1976.

That stood as the single-season program record until the Sanders guy came along in 1988.

Let’s get this week started right! Have a great Monday!