In a season that started off as decorated as his high school career ended, former Riverbank High standout German Fernandez was stopped by his only competition, when the Oklahoma State freshman's Achilles tendon let him down during the NCAA 2008 Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Fernandez' impressive career continued to spiral upward during his debut season running for the Oklahoma State Cowboys. He completed the season as the Big 12 individual champion and joined one of the nation's top programs as they headed into the 2008 Championships focused on a top-tier finish.
Fernandez joined teammates Ryan Vail and John Kosgei as they prepared to make their move to the front of the pack, doing so until Fernandez' tendon forced the freshman phenom to the ground.
Fernandez was unable to finish the race, leaving the Cowboys with an eighth place overall finish, extremely disappointing to the nation's No. 2 ranked program.
Fernandez has had a long bout with injuries over his brief, but illustrious distance running career. Oklahoma State's head coach admitted on the Oklahoma State website that the injury to Fernandez was a tough break and that his distance star will need some extended time off.
The Oregon Ducks walked away with the overall team title with a score of 93 points, just ahead of Iona College's 147-point finish. Oklahoma State's eighth place finish pushed them just ahead of BYU (310 points) and Georgetown and Alabama, both tied with 319 points.
Fernandez' impressive career continued to spiral upward during his debut season running for the Oklahoma State Cowboys. He completed the season as the Big 12 individual champion and joined one of the nation's top programs as they headed into the 2008 Championships focused on a top-tier finish.
Fernandez joined teammates Ryan Vail and John Kosgei as they prepared to make their move to the front of the pack, doing so until Fernandez' tendon forced the freshman phenom to the ground.
Fernandez was unable to finish the race, leaving the Cowboys with an eighth place overall finish, extremely disappointing to the nation's No. 2 ranked program.
Fernandez has had a long bout with injuries over his brief, but illustrious distance running career. Oklahoma State's head coach admitted on the Oklahoma State website that the injury to Fernandez was a tough break and that his distance star will need some extended time off.
The Oregon Ducks walked away with the overall team title with a score of 93 points, just ahead of Iona College's 147-point finish. Oklahoma State's eighth place finish pushed them just ahead of BYU (310 points) and Georgetown and Alabama, both tied with 319 points.
