Cowboys Hunting Seventh Straight Midwest Regional Title

MEET NOTES

THE BASICS
The Oklahoma State Cowboys come into the Midwest Regional on a six-year win streak. Under head coach Dave Smith, the Cowboys have won 10 of the past 11 Midwest Regional titles.
The Cowgirls are looking to return to their winning ways after finishing second behind No. 20 Iowa State in the Big 12 Championships with one last matchup with their in-conference foe before the NCAA Championships in a week.

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 (ALL TIMES CT)
The 2017 NCAA Midwest Regional Championship is scheduled to begin Nov. 10 at 10:45 a.m., with the women's 6K, and the men's 10K run will follow at 11:45 a.m.

LAST TIME OUT
The No. 10 Cowboys scored 44 points to finish third overall behind Iowa State (40) and Texas (41).
Senior Hassan Abdi was the Big 12 individual champion at the meet, finishing the 8K race in 24:11.2. Along with Abdi's individual crown, another Cowboy saw the podium with Luis Martinez finishing second overall.
Redshirt-freshman Ryan Smeeton also had a big day for the Cowboys in his first conference meet, crossing the line in 24:17.8 and finishing ninth overall for his first All-Big 12 honor.
Noah Gade (15th) and Sylvester Barus (17th) completed the Cowboy top-five, making four out of the five earning All-Big 12 honors.
The Cowgirls finished runners-up with 89 points. The finish makes the Cowgirls Big 12 runners-up in back-to-back years.
The women again saw production from senior Molly Sughroue, who finished ninth overall in 20:35, which was a personal best for her.
The Cowgirls saw also good results from an unexpected place in freshman Cheyenne Walden. Walden was the women's second-highest finisher, finishing the 6K race in 20:50, good enough for 15th overall.
The Cowgirl top-five was rounded out by Kaytlyn Larson (17th) Gintare Zenkeviciute (20th) and freshman Sinclaire Johnson (28th).

COACH BOBBY LOCKHART – MEET COMMENTS
On his expectations for the weekend
"Well, this weekend is regionals. Both teams need to be top two to advance. We don't have many points, so top two is what we need."

On the mindset going in
"Our mindset is still the same. We know the teams that need to be beat. We know the individuals, etc. We have a game plan for the men's team and the women's team that we think should be best suited for them. But yeah, we need to be top two. Obviously, would like to get both teams through to the national championships."

On whether a 10K race changes the race plan
"No, it's pretty similar actually (to an 8K). It's the same really. You have to stay a little bit more relaxed a little bit longer. But no, it's pretty much the same."

On the biggest competition
"The biggest competition is Iowa State, winning the conference championships. They'll be there. We have two teams that are Big Ten with Minnesota and Illinois for the men's side. And on the women's side, Iowa State won, so they're probably the team to beat. So if we can secure first or second with the women, that would be the most ideal."

COWBOYS SIT AT NO. 19 AHEAD OF MIDWEST REGIONAL
Heading into the Midwest Regional, the Oklahoma State Cowboys dropped from No. 10 to No. 19 in the week six poll, and the Cowgirls received votes and remained No. 3 in the region after falling short to the No. 2 team in the Midwest Region — Iowa State.
The Pokes put five men in the Big 12's top-20 en route to falling just short behind Iowa State's 40 points and Texas' 41. The Cowboys also ended their streak as the longest-active team atop a region at 59.
Although the Cowboys fell in the polls, senior Hassan Abdi earned an individual title with a 24:11.2 in the 8K run. Despite losing his shoe in the middle of the race, Abdi surged back to take the crown and put OSU's Luis Martinez in the No. 2 spot.
Abdi was the Cowboys' first individual champion since Vegard Oelstad in 2015 and the 11th conference champion in the program's history.
On the women's side, OSU remained just outside the top 30, after finishing runners-up in Round Rock, Texas two weeks ago.
OSU's women saw an impressive running from senior Molly Sughroue who finished ninth overall in the conference 6K, recording a personal best in the process.
The final poll of the season is released Nov. 13, just five days before the NCAA
Championship in Louisville, Kentucky.

THE STREAK
Under coach Dave Smith, the Cowboy cross country program has been one of the most consistent in the country.
The Pokes have won three national titles, nine Big 12 championships and finished in the top-10 at the NCAA Championships in nine of his 11 seasons as the head coach.
In addition to the trophies and accolades throughout the years, their consistency is best represented by their dominance of the Midwest Region. Until this October, the men's squad was tops in the region for 59-straight weeks.
It is the longest streak in the NCAA, and it isn't even close.
Including the 2010 season, the Cowboys have been No. 1 in the Midwest for 67 of the past 69 weeks.
In the first week they weren't No. 1 in the Midwest, Oklahoma took the spot after breaking up OSU's Midwest Region title streak. But the Pokes made up for it by winning an NCAA title. It was Smith's first of three at OSU and the University's second of four.
The Cowboys will look to restart an even more impressive streak this week at the NCAA Midwest Regional in Ames, Iowa.

A LOOK BACK – THE 2016 MIDWEST REGIONAL
The Cowboy and Cowgirl cross country teams found themselves near the top of the podium once again. After sweeping the region in 2015, the men again took the title for the sixth-straight year, but the Cowgirls were runners-up by six points to Missouri.
Josh Thompson led the way for the Cowboys with a second-place finish in 30:18.9 in the men's 10K, and Hassan Abdi finished fourth in 30:23.5.
The Cowboys put three more runners in the top-25, with Sylvester Barus taking 15th and Christian Liddell and Anthoney Armstrong finishing 20th and 23rd, respectively, to round out the Cowboys' top-five.
Overall, the Cowboys topped the runners-up Tulsa Golden Hurricane by 25 points, and the Cowgirls fell just short to Missouri, scoring 89 points to Missouri's 83.
For the women, senior Kaela Edwards was the Cowgirls' top finisher, placing sixth in the women's 6K. Michelle Magnani (13th) and Aurora Dybedokken (14th) also ran well for the Cowgirls. Molly Sughroue joined them in the top-25, finishing a respectable 25th.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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