Cowgirls Take Seventh at NCAA Championships

Saturday, November 21

Louisville, KY

11 a.m.

Oklahoma State University

NCAA Championships

November 21, 2015 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Cowgirls wrapped their historic cross country season Saturday with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Louisville, Kentucky. The men's team also wrapped up its season while finishing in 18th.

OSU picked up its highest finish under coach Dave Smith and nabbed an All-America spot along the way.

"I'm really excited for the women, it was a great day," Smith said. "We ran a very patient race and maybe we could have been a little more aggressive, but next year we're going to have a different attitude. The women are already thinking that next year we're returning our entire team and instead of running for a top-10 spot, we're running for much bigger goals."

Coming into the race, no Cowgirl on the current roster had ever run in a cross country championship race. Ingeborg Loevnes and Natalie Baker led the Cowgirls once again finishing 35th and 41st respectively. Loevnes' 20:23.2 earned the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and her first All-America honor. Kaela Edwards, Anna Boyert, Molly Sughroue, Aurora Dybedokken and Abbie Hetherington finished 70th, 121st, 122nd, 203rd and 218th respectively.

"I don't really know what to say," Loevnes said. "I'm super pumped and we ran really well as a team. All-in-all it's been a great season."

The Cowgirls combined for 274, which was good enough for their second-highest finish in school history. At the 2K mark, OSU wasn't even in the top-10 conversation as they sat in 21st and Baker led them in 102nd. But the race was just beginning for the Cowgirls who quickly jumped into the top-10 with just over a mile to run. Baker went on to finish just two-tenths of a second behind the final All-America spot.

"We're a pretty young and inexperienced team when it comes to this, but we've just been toughing it out this whole season," Loevnes said. "We've still got some work to do but we've learned so much this season."

The men's team saw an impressive streak snap as they fell short of a top-10 finish for the first time in over a decade. The Cowboys came into the day ranked fourth nationally and were the No. 1 ranked team in the Midwest region for 39 consecutive weeks.

"On the men's side, we've got to regroup and rebuild," Smith said. "I think we got away from what made us great: attitude, heart and desire and we've just had two or three years in a row where we haven't given that something extra."

Craig Nowak, who finished 16th at the 2014 Championships in Terre Haute, gave the Cowboys a 52nd place finish in his last cross country race for OSU. His time of 30:34.6 led the Cowboys, who scored 450 to take 18th place.

"Craig had an incredible day today," Smith said. "He's a guy that went through surgery in September and started running by the end of September. I told him that we needed him and he was willing to give up potentially an All-American position next year to run for us this year."

Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Josh Thompson provided key depth in the Cowboy roster this season and pulled out a 101st place finish in 30:59.0 in his first D1 cross country season. Cerake Geberkidane's sophomore year ended with a 125th place finish, which tops his result last season by one spot. 1,500-meter champion Chad Noelle grabbed a 116th place finish and Brian Gohlke, one of three Cowboys on the course today with cross country championships experience, crossed the line in 31:35.5, good enough for 169th place.

With the cross country season in the books, OSU turns its attention to indoor track and field, which is slated to begin in just three weeks.

NCAA Cross Country Championships | 'Tom' Sawyer State Park, Louisville Kentucky | Nov. 21, 2015

Women's 6K
35. Ingeborg Loevnes – 20:23.2
41. Natalie Baker – 20:27.9
70. Kaela Edwards – 20:39.3
121. Anna Boyert – 20:59.6
122. Molly Sughroue – 20:59.6
203. Aurora Dybedokken – 21:41.1
218. Abbie Hetherington – 21:55.4

Men's 10K
52. Craig Nowak – 30:34.6
101. Josh Thompson – 30:59.0
116. Chad Noelle – 31:07.1
125. Cerake Geberkidane – 31:11.4
169. Brian Gohlke – 31:35.5
240. Brigham Hedges – 33:06.9
252. Vegard Oelstad – 34:41.3

Women's Team
1. New Mexico – 49 pts.
2. Colorado – 129
3. Oregon – 214
4. Providence – 231
5. North Carolina State – 264
6. Michigan – 264
7. Oklahoma State – 274
8. Notre Dame – 276
9. Arkansas – 276
10. Washington – 297

Men's Team
1. Syracuse – 82
2.Colorado – 91
3. Stanford – 151
4. Oregon – 183
5. Iona – 231
6. Arkansas – 244
7. Louisville – 331
8. Washington – 345
9. Michigan – 348
10. Georgetown – 352
…
18. Oklahoma State – 450