Oklahoma State University Athletics
Meet Preview: Bluegrass Invitational
September 11, 2014 | Cowgirl Cross Country & Track
STILLWATER, Okla. - The Oklahoma State men's and women's cross country teams will travel to Lexington, Ky., this weekend to compete at the Bluegrass Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 13, at Masterson Station Park.
Follow The Meet
Fans can follow the action live on Twitter by following @run4okstate for updates. Final results will be published on www.okstate.com.
Meet Schedule
Saturday's collegiate events begin with the men's race at 9:30 a.m. After the Cowboys complete the 8K competition, the Oklahoma State women's cross country team will hit the starting line for a 5K race, set to begin at 10:10 a.m.
A Look Back – 2013 Bluegrass Invite
The 2013 Bluegrass Invitational saw OSU's men's and women's teams finish the team competition in second and fourth, respectively. Four Cowboys finished in the top ten, as Chad Noelle (7th), Brian Gohlke (9th) and Neal Smith (10th) finished close behind David Osborn, who led the team with a sixth-place performance.
After starting toward the back of the pack, the Cowgirls made a late charge to provide four runners with top-20 finishes. Samantha Nightingale led the team's 5K trek with a run of 17:22.01, matching Osborn's sixth-place finish. Adela Hofmannova finished in eighth, while Anna Boyert and Kaela Edwards ended the competition in 12th and 17th, respectively.
Last Time Out – Hurricane Festival
Luis Martinez won the men's individual title in his first-career race in cross country competition, leading the Cowboys to a season-opening sweep at the Hurricane Festival.
The fourth-ranked Cowboys went 5-0 in their duels, defeating Tulsa, UL-Monroe, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Wichita State. Martinez's run of 20:05 led the way in the men's four-mile race, while Anthoney Armstrong, Noah Gade and Matthew Fayers each recorded top-ten finishes.
Armstrong (20:10), Gade (20:18) and Fayers (20:23) finished third, seventh and 10th, respectively. Justin Vilhauer (13th) and Brigham Hedges (30th) rounded out the top 30, while Alex Johansson finished in 31st.
The No. 19 Cowgirls went 2-2 in the squad's four duels, defeating Tulsa and Wichita State. Gintare Zenkeviciute finished the two-mile run in 11:18, giving the sophomore her second-consecutive fifth-place finish at the Hurricane Festival.
Zenkeviciute led a quartet of Cowgirls finishing in the top 20, as Caileigh Glenn (11:26), Emily Helms (11:30) and Janelle Martinez (11:31) finished 10th, 13th and 15th, respectively.
Coach Dave Smith – Meet Comments
On the team's season-opening meet in Tulsa:
"With the men, it was their first meet of the season, so it's hard to take too much from it. There were four teams ranked in the top 30, I believe. Tulsa, Arkansas, ourselves and Oklahoma are all ranked in the top 30 of the coaches' poll, so it was a pretty good collection of teams. Most of us didn't run our top guys. I think most of us rested those guys, but it gives us a good chance to see how the futures of all four programs stack up. I think we had some guys run exceptionally well. For Luis [Martinez], that was his first race as a Cowboy in cross country, and I think he did a great job. He won the race, and he beat some very talented athletes. I think the future of the program is in good hands with Luis coming up quickly right now.”
On the Cowboys' group of redshirt freshmen making its cross country debut:
“They all did a good job. I think Noah Gade had a pretty good race, but he had a really good track season as well, so it was kind of expected. Anthoney Armstrong had his first race with us since he's been at OSU, and he did a good job. Matthew Fayers was another guy running his first cross country race for us. Some of the other young guys may have struggled, but those four guys, as redshirt freshmen, did a really good job.”
On what he expects from the team in Kentucky:
“Last week was kind of a rust-buster with a different approach. We even did a much more aggressive warm-up that was almost an over-workout itself, so we approached it differently. This week, we'll approach more like we approach any race, where we're going to go in there and prepare to run well. The focus of the day is going to be to compete well. We wanted to compete well last week, but we still wanted to get some work done, so it was a little different. We're going to see some other teams doing the same thing. At Tulsa, I think the other four teams were all kind of doing the same thing. It's almost like a preseason NFL game where you don't get to see what every true hand is. Now, we'll get to see what that same group is like against people who are seriously competing out there, while we'll do the same thing and get an idea of how to handle that kind of pressure."
2014 XC Debuts
Saturday's race will mark the 2014 cross country debut for multiple Cowgirls, including Savannah Camacho, Abbie Hetherington and Natalie Baker. Camacho starred during the 2014 indoor track season, earning All-America honors in the 800 meters behind a second-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Hetherington, a true freshman from Carlisle, England, joins the Cowgirls after a successful junior career across the pond. She won the silver medal in the 1,500 meters at the 2012 UK School Games, located in London's Olympic Stadium. Hetherington also won five cross country races in 2012, and took fourth in the McCain UK Cross Challenge Series. Coach Dave Smith spoke about the freshman and the possibility of her contributing to the Cowgirls in 2014:
"Abbie Hetherington is a true freshman who came from Carlisle, England, the same area as Tom Farrell, and I'm really excited to see what she's going to do. She's gotten a little bit better every single day since she got here, and I think she's rounding into form in a way that looks like she might make our top seven by the end of the year. That's tough for a freshman to do, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what Abbie can do when she goes out for her race.”
