Cross Country Wraps Up Regular Season in College Station

October 11, 2018 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

Meet Information
• Event - Arturo Barrios Invitational
• Times - Men's 8K: 9 a.m.; Women's 6K: 9:45 a.m.
• OSU Entries: Men - Garrett Calhoun, Adam Dayani, Alec Haines, Ashenafi Hatte, Nicholas Kenville, Sukhi Khosla, Owen Krewson, Ayrton Ledesma Fuentes, Kevin Mulcaire, Jorge Perez, Isaiah Priddey, Bryce Quigley, Isai Rodriguez and Shayan Zarrin;
Women: Grace Baker, Ariane Ballner, Molly Born, Kaylee Dodd, Haley Geissler, Anna Gunter, Kami Hankins, Abbie Hetherington, Sinclaire Johnson, Kaytlyn Larson, Jenny Martinez, Amanda Mayoral, Rilee Rigdon, Katherine Ruck, Maddie Salek, Taylor Somers, Morgan Szekely and Cheyenne Walden
• Course: Watts Cross Country Course
• Meet Notes

The Basics
   In the cross country squads' regular season finale, Oklahoma State will travel to College Station, Texas, for the inaugural Arturo Barrios Invitational.
   The Cowboys look to keep their positive momentum rolling after a 15th-place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational. Ashenafi Hatte came in 13th and broke the 24-minute mark in his Cowboy debut.
   The Cowgirls also finished 15th in the team race at the Nuttycombe Invitational. Sinclaire Johnson led the way for OSU, finishing 15th overall. She won the Hurricane Invitational in the Cowgirls' opening race.

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 inaugural Arutro Barrios Invitational will get underway at 9 a.m. on Saturday with the first race of the day being the men's 8K. The women's 6K will follow at 9:45 a.m.
   Teams are allowed unlimited entries into the race, unlike OSU's previous competition.

Coach Smith on how he feels going into College Station
"I think it's a great opportunity to go out and test the wheels. I hope we'll go and take some chances and maybe do some things out of our comfort zone and be a little more aggressive and toward the front. It's the last chance we have to experiment with race strategies and styles. At Wisconsin, we were a little more conservative and here we want to be more aggressive. We want to build the best race plan for championship races going forward. We're excited to get one more race under the belt and tune up for the Big 12 Championships."

Sophomore slump? No, thanks.
   In her second season on the cross country course, Sinclaire Johnson has been thriving.
   The native Floridian has run in both of the Cowgirls races and has impressed in both of them. She earned a victory at the rust-busting Hurricane Invitational and finished 15th overall at the Nuttycombe Invitational.
   In Madison, Wisconsin, Johnson ran stride for stride with some of the nation's elites at the front of the 230-runner field. Defending national champion Ednah Kurgat was among the runners at the front of the massive pack.
   Her time in both races have clocked in as top-five times in program history at both two miles and 6,000 meters. On that list, she is surrounded by Cowgirl greats and national champions.
   While the competition isn't as nationally known as the competition in the Badger State, Johnson will figure to be near the front of the pack once again in College Station, Texas.

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That
   The Cowboys rotation this season figures to be a mix of OSU staples and a crop of transfer runners who are expereinced, but new to to the Division I Cross Country scene.
   The veterans coming back to lead the way are Luis Martinez, Ryan Smeeton, Sukhi Khosla and Alec Haines. These four were all a part of the scoring effort at the Nuttycombe Invitational and have experience racing for OSU.
   Martinez was the Big 12 runner-up last year, finishing behind only teammate Hassan Abdi. Smeeton was also an All-Big 12 cross country runner, finishing ninth in 2017. Khosla and Haines have a combined three All-Big 12 honors from their track careers.
   The fresh faces for the Cowboys are Ashenafi Hatte, Jorge Perez and Ayrton Ledesma Fuentes.
   Hatte finished 13th at the Nuttycombe Invitational, breaking the 24-minute mark and putting himself at the forefront of the Cowboys squad. Hatte comes in for his first cross country season at OSU after running the indoor and outdoor track seasons for the Cowboys in 2018.
   Perez and Ledesma Fuentes both enter their first Division I cross country campaigns after successful junior college careers. Perez earned four All-American honors at Central Arizona and Ledesma Fuentes is the reigning NJCAA 3,000-meter steeplechase champion.