Cross Country Looks to Add Conference Titles With Trip to Ames

Cross Country Looks to Add Conference Titles With Trip to Ames

October 23, 2018 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

Meet Information
• Event - Big 12 Cross Country Championships
• Times - Women's 6K: 10 a.m.; Men's 8K: 11 a.m.
• OSU Entries - Men: Alec Haines, Ashenafi Hatte, Sukhi Khosla, Owen Krewson, Ayrton Ledesma Fuentes, Luis Martinez, Jorge Perez, Bryce Quigley, Isai Rodriguez and Ryan Smeeton; Women: Grace Baker, Ariane Ballner, Molly Born, Kaylee Dodd, Kami Hankins, Abbie Hetherington, Sinclaire Johnson, Kaytlyn Larson, Jenny Martinez, Katherine Ruck, Taylor Somers and Morgan Szekely
• Course - ISU Cross Country Course
• Meet Notes

The Basics
    The OSU cross country teams open their postseasons with the Big 12 Cross Country Championships, an event OSU has dominated in the past.
   Both teams finished as the conference runner-up a year ago, but both teams are primed to get back to the top of the conference.
   For the men's team, Ashenafi Hatte has become a star. He has run in two races this season, but has made his mark on both. Hatte finished 13th at the Nuttycombe Invitational and won his most recent race, the Arturo Barrios Invitational.
   On the women's side, SInclaire Johnson already has two wins this season and had an outstanding race on the national stage with a 15th-place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational.

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 in CT)
   The Big 12 Cross Country Championships will start at 10 a.m. with the women's 6K race. The men's 8K race will follow at 11 a.m.

Coach Smith on the Meet
On the chances the OSU men win a title
"I think Iowa State is the favorite right now for sure. They're the returning champions, they return their whole team and have added a transfer who was an All-American. They're a really good team this year. We've got a shot. If we run the race 10 times, we win a couple of times, so let's make this time on of those times when we win. I think we've got a shot."

On the women's team's chances of winning
"We're in the same boat as the men. Iowa State is the clear favorite again. They're pretty good, but I think we've improved a lot. We've got someone for the first time in a while who can challenge for a Big 12 individual title in Sinclaire Johnson and a bunch of women behind who are just coming on, including some who have pleasantly surprised us. I think, on the right day, the women can win it, too."

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 all three of them. She earned victories at the rust-busting Hurricane Invitational and the Arturo Barrios Invitational. She also 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.
   After a victory two weeks ago in College Station, Texas, Johnson looks to keep her momentum rolling into the postseason. She will be challenging two-time defending conference champion Sharon Lokedi.

Regaining the Throne
   Despite a runner-up finish at the 2017 Big 12 Cross Country Championships, the Cowboys look to get back to the top spot in the conference, a position that has seen Oklahoma State in it nine of the past 10 years.
   The 2018 rendition of the conference championships is going to be highly contested, but OSU has good reason to believe it will capture the conference title again.
   Ashenafi Hatte is in the midst of one of the best seasons in recent memory. So far this season he has racked up one victory and a phenomenal showing at the Nuttycombe Invitational, where he broke the 24-minute mark and finished 13th.
   Luis Martinez returns for another season of cross country. He finished as the conference runner-up last year, finsihing behind Hassan Abdi, a fellow Cowboy.
   Isai Rodrgiuez is a highly touted frehsman and he showed promise to the hype at the OSU regular season finale. He finished hand-in-hand with Hatte and clocked in one-tenth of a second behind his teammate.
   Those three are joined by a couple of junior college transfers in Ayrton Ledesma Fuentes and Jorge Perez.
   This group looks to get back to the No. 1 spot in the conference after a runner-up finish last year. Before that, the OSU men had won nine Big 12 titles in a row.