TOP ATHLETE OF THE PAST 30 YEARS: BRETT TUROWSKI (BARTLESVILLE)

By Mike Tupa

Dec. 3, 2025

BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT

During his nearly 30 years of covering area high school sports for either the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise or the Bartlesville Area Sports Report, Mike Tupa has enjoyed the opportunity to observe some incredible athletes.

This is an ongoing series highlighting, each few days, one of those athletes from the 1996-97 school year through the present. The list is not in chronological order. The athletes are presented in random sequence.

Today's Spotlight

Brett Turowski (Bartlesville)

Multiple sports (early 2000s)

His first name rhymes with Jet, Threat and Sweat.

His last name is synonymous with the highest tradition of Bartlesville High School cross country and track.

Anyway one looks at it, Brett Turowski was the ultimate definition of a competitor.

He soared around the course like a jet, created an unnerving threat among the preponderance of his opponents and battled past the sweat.

But Turowski’s impact goes beyond his gold medal days of the early 2000s. Several years ago he returned to Bartlesville to hone a new generation of Bruin and Lady Bruin distance heroes.

The combination of Turowski’s achievements as an athlete and as a coach help set him apart as one of the great sports torchbearers in area sports history.

Some of his cross country highlights during his Bruin years included:

— Placed in the Top 10 three times in the Class 5A state meet (4th in 2003, 16.16; 9th in 2001, 16:27; and 9th in 2000 as a freshman).

— Finished second in the 2003 5A regional (15:57) and came in sixth in the 2001 regional (16:56).

— In 2003, he won the Ponca City meet (17:10) by a margin of more than 19 seconds.

— He surged to first place in the 2003 Holland Hall meet (16:33).

—At the 2003 Frontier Conference meet Turowski accelerated to first place (16:27).

— As a sophomore in 2001, Turowski galloped to sixth place (17:06) in the Frontier Conference meet,

— Also in 2001 he bolted to fourth place (16:52) in the Holland Hall Invitational.

— At Bartlesville’s home meet in 2001, he finished second.

— He also placed second (17:09) at the Ponca City meet in 2001.

When it came to the spring, Turowski burned up the track in the boys’ distance events.

As a senior he blasted to the 2004 state championship in the 3200m run (9:28.0), outpacing the runner-up by more than 18 seconds. He also brought home the silver medal in the 1600m run (4:27.46).

Turowski also placed in the top six in both the 1600m and 3200m in 2003.

Some other track highlights included:

— Swept the regional championship in both the 1600m and 3200m in 2004. Also helped the Bruin 3200m relay team to capture silver.

— Also in 2004, he hustled to the Frontier Conference championship in the 3200m (9:34.45).

— As a sophomore, he thundered to second place in the 3200m (10:27) in the Tulsa Union Invitational.

Following his days of glory at Bartlesville, Turowski took his skills and stamina to the University of Tulsa.

He continued to blaze to success.

During his college cross country career, Turowski captured 10 letters and five all-conference honors. During his junior season (2006) he earned a First-Team spot on the All-C-USA Men’s Cross Country team.

Turowski powered into the 2007 NCAA championships, running in 33:00 in the 10K. 

As a junior, he placed 15th at the NCAA Midwest Regional 10K with a personal record time of 31:20. He also came in fifth in the C-USA Championships.

He rocketed to a time of 4:23.03 in the mile in the 2006-07 track season. In the same season he placed sixth in the 3K steeplechase in the C-USA meet.

In his sophomore cross country season (2005), Turowski recorded the team’s fastest time in four meets.

In his freshman season he outpaced his teammates at the Southern Stampede and finished 35th overall.

The C-USA named Turowski its Cross Country Athlete of the Week during September 2006.

A few years later he would return to Bartlesville to help shape the character and athletic potential of new generations of students.

Anyway one looks at it, Turowski has developed a winning attitude that skill glows more than 20 years after he last ran for Bartlesville High.

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Brett Turowski

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This series has featured the following athletes, listed in no particular order.

-Jena’ Williams, Bartlesville

-Eric Rolfs, Bartlesville

-Chris Smith, Caney Valley

-Jill Bryan, Copan

-Barron Tanner Jr, Bartlesville

-Hailey Tucker, Bartlesville

-Jeremy Dunkle, Dewey

-Whitney Metcalf, Bartlesville

-Tim Hamilton, Bartlesville

-Danielle Koster, Bartlesville

-Carson LaRue, Dewey

-John Hamman, Wesleyan Christian

-Jamie Elam, Caney Valley

-Sam Mitchell, Bartlesville

-Karissa Jones, Dewey

-Noah Hartsock, Bartlesville

-Tiffany Paper, Copan

-AJ Parker, Bartlesville

-Tiffany Eden, Caney Valley

-Henry Williams, Bartlesville

-Markell Carter, Bartlesville

-Rebecca Schluter, Wesleyan Christian

-Adam Hibdon, Barnsdall

-Tishuana Hunter, Nowata

-Nate Alleman, Bartlesville

-Jessie Burch, Dewey

-Joey McNair, Caney Valley/Bartlesville

-Michael Thompson, Bartlesville

-Kate Steward, Bartlesville

-Jarrett Rouse, Community

-Amanda Warehime, Bartlesville

-Trey Osborne, Dewey

-Heather Lanphear, Barnsdall

-Erin Epperson, Bartlesville

-Levi Wyrick, Caney Valley (Kan.)

-Spencer Magana, Dewey

-Jackie Jo Chaney, Copan

-Haley Downey, Bartlesville

-Cooper Fogle, Caney Valley

-Amanda Brown, Copan 

-Rachel Smith, Pawhuska

-Casey Cassity, Barnsdall

-Stacy Cornforth, Bartlesville

-Gabby Higbee, Dewey

-Kirby Schoenthaler, Bartlesville

-Tyler Kay, Barnsdall

-Colton Penrod, Bartlesville

-Erin Herchock, Dewey

-Lindsey Collins, Caney Valley

-Nathan Hughes, Bartlesville

-Aaron Hunt, Copan

-Calan Crowder, Bartlesville

-Colby Kohlmeyer, Caney Valley

-Allison Hunt, Copan

-Stephen Garrett, Dewey