OSU Cross Country Goes for Seventh Consecutive Jamboree Sweep

Saturday, September 24

Stillwater

Oklahoma State University

Cowboy Jamboree

OSU Cross Country Goes for Seventh Consecutive Jamboree Sweep

September 22, 2016 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

MEET NOTES

THE BASICS
Oklahoma State looks to sweep the Cowboy Jamboree titles for the seventh-straight year against the likes of Kansas State and Tulsa to improve to 21-1 at home meets since 2009.
A win for the Cowboys would give OSU its 22nd Jamboree title and seventh consecutive top-finish.
A Cowgirls victory would also give them their seventh-straight meet crown and put them at 12 wins overall.

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 along with a recap of OSU's day on the course.

MEET SCHEDULE
The 80th Cowboy Jamboree kicks off at 8 a.m. with the running of the women's college 5K featuring several junior colleges from around the region.
The men's college 8K will follow with the same teams before the university sections line up and take to the course.
The Cowgirls will take on the field of Kansas State, Tulsa, Stephen F. Austin and more at 9:15 a.m. in the women's university 5K.
At 9:45, the Cowboys run the men's university 8K in search of a seventh-straight Jamboree crown.

LAST TIME OUT
Josh Thompson, Christian Liddell and Luis Martinez crossed the line first through third, with Liddell and Martinez finishing just a tenth of-a-second behind Thompson.
The ninth-ranked Cowboys swept the dual-meet, defeating Arkansas, OU, Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Wichita State handily thanks to a seventh-place finish from Anthoney Armstrong and 21st place finish from Sukhi Khosla in his Cowboy debut.
Arkansas' Carina Viljoen won the women's 3K, and led Arkansas to the 5-0 performance. Camacho took fourth and was OSU's highest finisher in front of a posse of Cowgirls including Natalie Baker in 11th.
Anna Boyert and Jennifer Celis took 13th and 14th, respectively, and Kaytlyn Larson took 20th to wrap up the OSU top-five and give the Cowgirls a 3-2 dual record on the day. Kaylee Dodd and Cowgirl sprinter Danielle Coleman crossed the line in 32nd and 36th.
Freshmen Bailey Sutherlin, Kami Hankins, Kaylee Oyler and Carly Flinn made their OSU debuts, and Jillian Hagen joined them in the top-45.

COACH DAVE SMITH - MEET COMMENTS

On what he expects to see from his team:
"It's our first real big elite competition where we'll throw out our best team available. We've got a few kids still dinged up, so hopefully it won't be the same teams we run at the end of the year, but it's the best we have available now. Measuring ourselves against some good D1 competition and getting an idea of where we are is really important. I think this course has a lot of history. We've run it every year so we know what the times mean from year to year. We can look back and figure out what happened the year before or in 2012 when we last won a championship and get an idea of where our group is. I think it's also big for the athletes because it's the one time we get to show our stuff here in Stillwater. Everyone loves running in front of a home crowd and having friends and families and supporters out there cheering you on is always a big boost."

On why OSU has had success at home:
"We want to win every race we run and especially on our home course. The guys and the women in this program take a lot of pride in the fact that this course is probably the toughest course that anyone will run all year long. I think there is a certain mental toughness that comes from being able to prepare to run on this course and the men and women in our program really take pride in having that toughness and preparing for the course. There's a little extra motivation to perform well here."

On the seniors' last run:
"It's emotional. We've still got a full season to go, we've got indoor track and outdoor track, but the last time they get to run on the Jamboree course, which is never anyone's favorite race to run in their first two or three years because it's so tough. But they start to think, 'this is my last chance to run on the Jamboree course'. Some of the seniors have already talked about it, how they can't believe how fast time has gone, and it seems like when they first put on the spikes and got on the course they couldn't imagine having to run it three more times, but now they're thinking they wish they had three more to go."

OKLAHOMA STATE IN THE RANKINGS
The Oklahoma State Cowboy cross country team climbed one spot to 9, and the Cowgirls held firm at No. 8 in the second regular season United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Poll.
Leading the Midwest region for the 46th-straight week, the Cowboys inched up a spot after Washington plummeted from 8 to 21.
Although the Cowboys haven't competed since the season opener Cowboy Duals, expectations in Stillwater, and around the country, are still high as they have jumped two spots without competition since their preseason debut at 11.
Among the other Big 12 programs, OSU still leads with in-state rival Oklahoma sitting at 19, and Texas and Iowa State receiving votes.
The Midwest No. 1 Cowgirls hold a 12-point edge on ninth-ranked Michigan State in the second regular season poll. The Cowgirls have remained in the eighth-spot since the preseason poll, making this the longest stretch the Cowgirls have been in the USTFCCCA top-10 in poll history. The record dates back to last season's final poll where they slotted in at No. 7 after finishing in the same spot at the NCAA Championships.
OSU's competition in-conference is stronger on the women's side, with Iowa State holding their No. 17 ranking, Kansas moving up three spots to 21, and Texas and Baylor just outside the top-30, receiving votes.
After a long break from competition, both cross country teams return to action Saturday at the 80th Cowboy Jamboree where they will run against 28/RV Tulsa, Kansas State and other teams at the OSU Cross Country Course in Stillwater.

DEFENDING HOME TURF
The Oklahoma State cross country teams look to build upon their success at home with team wins at the 80th Cowboy Jamboree this Saturday.
Since the first running in 1937, the Pokes have won 21 Jamboree titles with six-straight coming since 2010. The last loss was to Northern Arizona in 2009, the year OSU won its first NCAA title under coach Dave Smith. With a win this Saturday, the Pokes would slot into a tie for the second-longest win streak in Jamboree history behind Arkansas' eight straight from 1975-82.
The Cowgirls have dominated under coach Smith winning six-straight for the longest streak in event history.
Last year, OSU swept the Jamboree titles for the sixth-straight time, then went on to sweep the Big 12 Championships, which they hosted as well to finish their home schedule unbeaten.
This season, the Cowboys went 5-0 in the Cowboy Duals to open the season and the Cowgirls went 3-2, coming up just short on SEC powerhouse Arkansas and in-state conference rival Oklahoma.
Last year Cerake Geberkidane won the men's 8K race to give the Cowboys their third consecutive individual champion, and Ingeborg Loevnes was the Cowgirls' highest finisher, crossing the line in third.

NEWCOMERS' FIRST BIG TEST
The Cowboy Jamboree course has been often labeled as one of the more difficult courses in the NCAA and across the country, making Saturday's race the first real chance for the newcomers to make an impression on head coach Dave Smith.
Many of OSU's freshmen participating in the race will run unattached, but will still be fighting for an orange jersey as the top-seven has yet to be set in stone for both the Cowboys and Cowgirls.
Last year, the Jamboree served as a coming-out party for freshmen standouts Christian Liddell and Katie Spencer, who finished 11th and eighth, respectively, which earned them a spot on the teams going into the Big 12 Championships and the Midwest Regionals.
The two biggest names on the newcomers list are veterans of the Cowboy Jamboree course in last year's college section champion Sylvester Barus and 2015 10th-place finisher in the university section Hassan Abdi.
While their history and resume have all but secured them a spot on the Cowboys' squad come November, the Jamboree will serve as their first chance to compete in orange and figure out where they fall into Smith's plan to return to the top-four at the NCAA Championships.