Cowboys Win Ninth Big 12 Cross Country Title

Saturday, October 29

Lubbock, Texas

Oklahoma State University

Big 12 Cross Country Championships

October 29, 2016 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

Cowgirls take second in Lubbock

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Oklahoma State Cowboys won the Big 12 Cross Country team title for the ninth-consecutive year, led by Hassan Abdi who was OSU's highest finisher.

The ninth-ranked Cowboys scored 36 points to win the title, and all of OSU's top-five finishers earned all-conference honors.

The race started slow as a large lead pack kept things tight through 5K. OSU sat in third after 3K, but slowly picked off Texas and Iowa State en rout to the win, taking the outright lead by the 6K mark.

"It was a little more crowded than we expected," coach Dave Smith said. "People got frustrated, it was clustered, people were getting elbowed. In retrospect we probably should have gone with a different race plan, but it worked out."

Abdi finished third behind two Texas Tech runners, despite losing both shoes midway through the race.

"A guy stepped on both of my shoes when I was running up a hill, so I had to stop to put them back on," Abdi said. "Coach told me to take it easy, so I just tried to catch up one-by-one. It was in the first loop, so it was before we started to pick up. I was the one who started to pick it up because I had to catch up."

Luis Martinez had a big day at his second Big 12 cross country meet, crossing the line in 25:41.9 and finishing fifth for his first All-Big 12 honor since 2014.

"We knew Hassan was going to have a great day because he's an incredible athlete," Smith said. "Josh had a solid day, too, but the real difference came from Luis, Anthoney and Christian. They are the ones who should get the credit for keeping the streak alive."

Josh Thompson (seventh), Anthoney Armstrong (10th) and Christian Liddell (11th) completed the Cowboy top-five. It was Armstrong's cross country championship debut, and Liddell's first all-conference honor of his career.

"The medals of honor go to those three: Luis, Christian and Anthoney," Smith said. "They have kind of been off the radar for a long time, but kept working hard and really came through today."

The first race of the day saw the Cowgirls finish second with 82 points. It was their second runner-up finish under Smith.

The wind was much more punishing earlier in the day, but it didn't slow down the pace as each of the top-10 finishers crossed the line in less than 21 minutes, including Cowgirl freshman Michelle Magnani.

"It was incredible," Smith said. "Her confidence is growing every race and she's going to keep improving. She can be an All-American if she keeps it up."

Finishing seventh, Magnani was the Cowgirls' highest finisher, taking All-Big 12 honors in her first conference event.

In her 2016 debut, Kaela Edwards took 13th to claim her second consecutive all-conference honor at the cross country championship and her 10th overall in her storied Cowgirl career.

The Cowgirl top-five was rounded out by Aurora Dybedokken (18th), Molly Sughroue (21st) and Abbie Hetherington (23rd).

Iowa State took the team title for the second time in three years.

Up next for OSU is a trip to Iowa City to defend their Midwest Regional titles.

Last season, both the Cowboys and Cowgirls swept their way into the NCAA Championships, and went into the meet in Louisville as the top-ranked teams in the Midwest.

Big 12 Championships | Oct. 29, 2016 | Lubbock, Texas

Men's Individual Results
3. Hassan Abdi – 25:39
5. Luis Martinez – 25:41
7. Josh Thompson – 25:44
10. Anthoney Armstrong – 25:52.0
11. Christian Liddell – 25:52.5
20. Sylvester Barus – 26:06
30. Matthew Fayers – 26:31
36. Brigham Hedges – 26:37
54. Sukhi Khosla – 27:10
58. Noah Gade – 27:21

Women's Individual Results
7. Michelle Magnani – 20:47
13. Kaela Edwards – 21:11
18. Aurora Dybedokken – 21.19
21. Molly Sughroue – 21:26
23. Abbie Hetherington – 21:32
26. Savannah Camacho – 21:36
35. Anna Boyert – 21:53
47. Kaytlyn Larson – 22:22
50. Natalie Baker – 22:25
59. Kaylee Dodd – 22:44

Men's Team
1. Oklahoma State - 36
2. Iowa State - 49
3. Texas - 100
4. Kansas - 104
5. Texas Tech - 123
6. Oklahoma - 127
7. Baylor - 190
8. Kansas State - 217
9. TCU - 293

Women's Team
1. Iowa State - 56
2. Oklahoma State - 82
3. West Virginia - 111
4. Oklahoma - 124
5. Baylor - 126
6. Kansas - 129
7. Texas - 139
8. TCU - 203
9. Texas Tech - 204
10. Kansas State - 261