The Lowe down on a champion

He ran out onto the field with his soccer jersey around his knees.

It was much too big for him.

Most four-year-old kids would have been intimidated playing with older kids, but not him. Colby Lowe wanted to compete and he wanted to win.

Now 15 years later, Lowe is a sophomore in college and a member of the OSU cross country and track teams.

Week after week, he runs against some of the fastest athletes in the world and has stayed with them or beat them.

In high school at Southlake Carroll in Texas, Lowe was regarded as one of the top three runners in the country for distance running.

His talent stunned coach Dave Smith the first time he saw Colby compete.

“He was so much better than everyone around him that he got to hide his bad days by still winning,” Smith said.

When Lowe came to OSU, things didn’t go as smoothly. The transition from high school to OSU challenged everything he knew about running. It was a whole other world, and he had no idea what was in store for him. He had gone from being top three in the country to an alternate for the older runners.

“It’s a big change especially going from being at the front of the pack, then going to college and you’re a tag-along and you’re just learning the process and going through the motion,” Colby said.

Seeing his teammates compete only inspired him and he devoted himself to earn his own spot his sophomore year.

Coach Dave Smith said he saw potential, but Lowe’s resilience is what impressed him.

“His biggest talent is that he has a very short memory when it comes to a bad workout or things not going well in training,” Smith said. “He could forget the next day he wasn’t running well and race well in the competition,” Smith said.

Lowe said even though he was no longer the best man, he never lost faith in his ability to be a top competitor.

“He is a really positive person,” said Karen Lowe, Colby’s mother. “Obviously it gets tough sometimes but he just looks at everything as a challenge. If he didn’t finish something the way he wanted to, he is going to try that much harder next time.”

Colby was recruited at the same time as teammate and 2012 potential Olympic competitor German Fernandez. Competing with such a strong runner, pushed Colby to take his talent to another level.

“He is a pretty fierce competitor,” Fernandez said. “He goes out there and he just has this face that seems like he is going to kill someone, he gets it done when he goes out there.”

Stepping into the college world, a lot of things changed for Lowe. The workouts carried so much intensity and volume, and it was hard being away from home and his family.

This new lifestyle and the new workouts would have demolished any incoming freshman. But Lowe’s patience would pay off.

Since he came to Oklahoma State, where both his mother and father graduated, Lowe’s performances have been impressive.

He was a 2009 USA Track and Field Junior National Champion in the outdoor 5K, he holds the school record in the 5K, an All-American on Oklahoma State’s cross country national championship team, the 2010 Big 12 Indoor Champion in the 3K and has two National Championships.

“It’s been everything I imagined and more,” Lowe said. “Just I’m happy with my performance and how the guys are doing and it’s just nothing else more I would want out of the season. All the work I have been putting in since the end of last year is showing. It’s exciting.”