I know a lot of you were touched by what happened and I have it on good authority that the families of the victims deeply appreciate everything that’s been done, written or said about their loss.

Finally.

A once separated Stillwater showed its color by banding together and shouldering those in need.

All 34 runners will travel to Lawrence, Kan., to participate in the Kansas Invitational on Friday. The meet will be held in the Anschutz Pavilion at the University of Kansas.

Oklahoma State only has three seniors on its roster this season. The majority of the team is made up of 20 freshman.

This meet will be the first time that many of these runners have competed at the collegiate level.

“This is a big meet for us,” said Coach Catrina Acosta. “I don’t really know what to expect out of this young team. I just hope that we can go up there and run well. Other than that, you don’t really know what to predict.”

Not only is this meet a big one for the freshmen on OSU’s young team, but also for it’s All-American Senior Sara Wells.

Actually, it reminded us of a lot of things.

Raptor Properties — owner of Cowboy Mall — and university officials hoped to end negotiations and close on a deal, but a legal snag has delayed its official purchase until today.

“It was postponed because of some minor problems,” said Mike Bale, senior financial analyst for OSU risk, plant and property management. “Some sort of legal problem.”

Cowboy Mall, located at 1100 W. Hall of Fame Ave., houses several different businesses, including Aggie Stop, Leo’s Peking Chinese Restaurant and Pizza Shuttle.

In previous interviews with The Daily O’Collegian, both university officials and the owners of Cowboy Mall — Oklahoma City-based Raptor Properties — said the two arbitrators planned to close on Thursday.

“I don’t really know that I could really even explain it,” said Chris Bolding, Raptor Properties official. “But we are just going to wait until tomorrow.”

OSU Risk, Plant and Property Management Coordinator Suzanne Frits said the problem was caused by the inability of legal counsel to clear up the possibility of restrictions on the abstract, a condensed history of the ownership of a piece of land, including ownership transfers and records of anyone who has rights or liens on the land.

A lien is a claim against property that can be enforced in court to secure payment of a judgment, duty or debt.

“When you get a title commitment, an attorney examines it,” Frits said. “They want to make sure there are no restrictions on the abstract. It is kind of like having a lien on a car title — you have to clear up any problems on the title before it changes hands.

We know that overcoming the loss of so many will not be easy — it never is. But the ones who perished Saturday night would want us to resume life again.

“Matt played outstanding considering the circumstances,” head coach James Wadley said. “He played really well under pressure situations and came through in the clutch.”

Prentice will take on UNLV’s No. 54-ranked Nenad Zivkovic. The only previous meeting of the two was at the Corpus Christi Invitational during Prentice’s freshman year, where he defeated Zivkovic 6-3, 6-7, 6-2.

My little brother passed away last May, something I’m still dealing with, and thinking about his tragic death, the opportunities he lost, the friend I lost — and knowing that these families are going through similar pain, breaks my heart.

Fellowship of Christian University Students hosted a memorial service to help students cope with Saturday’s tragedy, in case Wednesday’s service wasn’t enough, said Nathan Pyykkonen, FOCUS president.

But OSU (11-8, 3-5 Big 12) battled back and ended up defeating the 20th ranked Baylor Bears 69-66 in overtime.

It was Oct. 2, 1970, and the Wichita State University football team boarded a plane that would take them to Logan, Utah, from Denver.

The Martin 404 aircraft, which was 5,165 pounds over the maximum allowable weight, crashed when it could not climb over an obstructing mountain or successfully reverse the course.“We lost 29 people in that crash,” said Jim Rhatigan, former vice president for academic affairs at Wichita State University. “Our situation was a lot like the one at OSU.”

“Students and staff went through many different stages of emotions,” Rhatigan said. “At first, people were traumatized; then they just couldn’t believe that it had happened.

After the prosecution rested on Monday, the defense began its case, calling 12 witnesses by Thursday.

The Cowboys open the year with a three-game set at Desert Sun Stadium, the former spring training home of the San Diego Padres.

Friday, the Pokes will take the field for a 4:30 p.m. CST contest against The Citadel.