Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU Cross Country Returns to Wisconsin for National Championships
November 13, 2018 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track
Meet Information
• Event – NCAA Cross Country Championships
• Times – Women's 6K: 10:45 a.m.; Men's 10K: 11:45 a.m.
• OSU Entries – Men: Alec Haines, Ashenafi Hatte, Sukhi Khosla, Ayrton Ledesma Fuentes, Luis Martinez, Jorge Perez, Bryce Quigley, Isai Rodriguez and Ryan Smeeton; Women: Grace Baker, Ariane Ballner, Molly Born, Kaylee Dodd, Abbie Hetherington, Sinclaire Johnson, Kaytlyn Larson, Jenny Martinez, Taylor Somers and Morgan Szekely
• Course – Thomas Zimmer Championship Course
Meet Notes
The Basics
   The OSU cross country teams wrap up their seasons Saturday at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
   The Cowboys and Cowgirls are making their second trip to Madison, Wisconsin, this year. This time around, they will be competing for a national title.
   OSU has had a consistent presence at the national championship round. The Cowboys are making their 16th consecutive appearance at this race and the Cowgirls have now made the NCAA Championships in seven of the past nine seasons.
   OSU looks to bounce back after a down year in 2017. The men's team finished 29th last year and the women's squad took 30th at this race a season ago.Â
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.Â
Meet Schedule (All Times CT)
   The NCAA Cross Country Championships kick off with the women's 6K race at 10:45 a.m. and the men's 10K follows at 11:45 a.m.
Coach Smith on the Meet
On goals for the NCAA meet
"Now let's take some chances. Like I told the team, the worst day at Nationals is better than the best day at home. What  do you have to lose? On the worst day, you're going to have a better day than if you weren't there at all. In a national meet, we get better because Isai is still a top-10 or top-15 runner even at a national meet. There are a lot of bodies between him and a lot of other team's No. 1 guy. We pick up a lot of points by moving up to a more competitive race. Ashenafi Hatte is running like an All-American and Luis can too. As is the case with Regionals, we need our 4-5 guys to step up. If we've got a top-20 finish after the year we've had, we're in pretty good shape."
Sophomore slump? No, thanks.
   In her second season on the cross country course, Sinclaire Johnson has been thriving.
   The native Floridian has run in all five of the Cowgirls' races and has impressed in each of them. She earned victories at the rust-busting Hurricane Invitational and the Arturo Barrios Invitational. Her second-place finish at the Big 12 Championships was the first Cowgirl peroformance to seriously threaten for a conference title since 1989. She also finished 15th overall at the Nuttycombe Invitational.
   At the Big 12 Championships, Johnson ran with the front pack the entire way and ended up beating out two-time champion Sharon Lokedi, who finished the race in fifth place. Despite a great race, Johnson couldn't beat out Cailie Logue of host school Iowa State.
   The last race she competed in (the Midwest Regional), Johnson fought off wet and muddy conditions to lead the Cowgirls with a 16th-place finish. Her performance helped OSu qualify for the NCAA Championships.
   Last time she was 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.
   The sophomore hopes to duplicate that performance this time around.
OSU Duo Making Statement On National Level
   Isai Rodriguez and Ashenafi Hatte have proved to be All-American contenders this season.
   Rodriguez is in his first cross country campaign after sitting out last year and redshirting. The native Oklahoman has seen success in all three of the races he has run in this season. At the Arturo Barrios Invitational, Rodriguez finished hand-in-hand with Hatte, but on the results page, he was the runner-up.
   At the conference championships, Rodriguez also finished second. He ran in the front of the race for a majority of the 8K race, but Edwin Kurgat of Iowa State took control late in the race.
   After his third consecutive runner-up finish, Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Dave Smith said the redshirt-freshman is "the real deal."
   Ashenafi Hatte is also a newcomer to the Cowboys' sqaud and performing at an outstanding level. Hatte has run in four races this year and finished in the top 15 in each race. In his second cross country race as a Cowboy, he won the Artuto Barrios Invitational. He finished third at the Big 12 Championships and ran in the lead pack almost the whole race. Hatte finished 13th at the Nuttycombe Invitational, a race that played host to some of the nation's elite runners.
   Both Rodriguez and Hatte have legitimate shotsto finish in the top 30 and earn All-American honors.
Championships Through the Years
   Oklahoma State has seen its fair share of success at the NCAA Championships, especially under Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Dave Smith's watch.
   The Oklahoma State men's team has won four national titles. The were victorious in 1954, 2009, 2010 and 2012. Smith was the coach for three of those titles
   The Cowboys have placed in the top 10 of the NCAA Championships 17 times, including a 10-year long span from 2005 to 2014.
   OSU's men have churned out 49 All-American performances at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Smith has coached 25 of those performances.
   The Cowgirls have made 11 appearances at the final race of the year, including six times under Smith.
   The OSU women have placed in the top 10 twice and had a program-best fifth-place finish in 1989. The Cowgirls' best finish under Smith came in 2015 when they came in seventh.
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• Event – NCAA Cross Country Championships
• Times – Women's 6K: 10:45 a.m.; Men's 10K: 11:45 a.m.
• OSU Entries – Men: Alec Haines, Ashenafi Hatte, Sukhi Khosla, Ayrton Ledesma Fuentes, Luis Martinez, Jorge Perez, Bryce Quigley, Isai Rodriguez and Ryan Smeeton; Women: Grace Baker, Ariane Ballner, Molly Born, Kaylee Dodd, Abbie Hetherington, Sinclaire Johnson, Kaytlyn Larson, Jenny Martinez, Taylor Somers and Morgan Szekely
• Course – Thomas Zimmer Championship Course
Meet Notes
The Basics
   The OSU cross country teams wrap up their seasons Saturday at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
   The Cowboys and Cowgirls are making their second trip to Madison, Wisconsin, this year. This time around, they will be competing for a national title.
   OSU has had a consistent presence at the national championship round. The Cowboys are making their 16th consecutive appearance at this race and the Cowgirls have now made the NCAA Championships in seven of the past nine seasons.
   OSU looks to bounce back after a down year in 2017. The men's team finished 29th last year and the women's squad took 30th at this race a season ago.Â
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.Â
Meet Schedule (All Times CT)
   The NCAA Cross Country Championships kick off with the women's 6K race at 10:45 a.m. and the men's 10K follows at 11:45 a.m.
Coach Smith on the Meet
On goals for the NCAA meet
"Now let's take some chances. Like I told the team, the worst day at Nationals is better than the best day at home. What  do you have to lose? On the worst day, you're going to have a better day than if you weren't there at all. In a national meet, we get better because Isai is still a top-10 or top-15 runner even at a national meet. There are a lot of bodies between him and a lot of other team's No. 1 guy. We pick up a lot of points by moving up to a more competitive race. Ashenafi Hatte is running like an All-American and Luis can too. As is the case with Regionals, we need our 4-5 guys to step up. If we've got a top-20 finish after the year we've had, we're in pretty good shape."
Sophomore slump? No, thanks.
   In her second season on the cross country course, Sinclaire Johnson has been thriving.
   The native Floridian has run in all five of the Cowgirls' races and has impressed in each of them. She earned victories at the rust-busting Hurricane Invitational and the Arturo Barrios Invitational. Her second-place finish at the Big 12 Championships was the first Cowgirl peroformance to seriously threaten for a conference title since 1989. She also finished 15th overall at the Nuttycombe Invitational.
   At the Big 12 Championships, Johnson ran with the front pack the entire way and ended up beating out two-time champion Sharon Lokedi, who finished the race in fifth place. Despite a great race, Johnson couldn't beat out Cailie Logue of host school Iowa State.
   The last race she competed in (the Midwest Regional), Johnson fought off wet and muddy conditions to lead the Cowgirls with a 16th-place finish. Her performance helped OSu qualify for the NCAA Championships.
   Last time she was 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.
   The sophomore hopes to duplicate that performance this time around.
OSU Duo Making Statement On National Level
   Isai Rodriguez and Ashenafi Hatte have proved to be All-American contenders this season.
   Rodriguez is in his first cross country campaign after sitting out last year and redshirting. The native Oklahoman has seen success in all three of the races he has run in this season. At the Arturo Barrios Invitational, Rodriguez finished hand-in-hand with Hatte, but on the results page, he was the runner-up.
   At the conference championships, Rodriguez also finished second. He ran in the front of the race for a majority of the 8K race, but Edwin Kurgat of Iowa State took control late in the race.
   After his third consecutive runner-up finish, Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Dave Smith said the redshirt-freshman is "the real deal."
   Ashenafi Hatte is also a newcomer to the Cowboys' sqaud and performing at an outstanding level. Hatte has run in four races this year and finished in the top 15 in each race. In his second cross country race as a Cowboy, he won the Artuto Barrios Invitational. He finished third at the Big 12 Championships and ran in the lead pack almost the whole race. Hatte finished 13th at the Nuttycombe Invitational, a race that played host to some of the nation's elite runners.
   Both Rodriguez and Hatte have legitimate shotsto finish in the top 30 and earn All-American honors.
Championships Through the Years
   Oklahoma State has seen its fair share of success at the NCAA Championships, especially under Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Dave Smith's watch.
   The Oklahoma State men's team has won four national titles. The were victorious in 1954, 2009, 2010 and 2012. Smith was the coach for three of those titles
   The Cowboys have placed in the top 10 of the NCAA Championships 17 times, including a 10-year long span from 2005 to 2014.
   OSU's men have churned out 49 All-American performances at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Smith has coached 25 of those performances.
   The Cowgirls have made 11 appearances at the final race of the year, including six times under Smith.
   The OSU women have placed in the top 10 twice and had a program-best fifth-place finish in 1989. The Cowgirls' best finish under Smith came in 2015 when they came in seventh.
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Players Mentioned
Middle Distance
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Middle Distance
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Distance
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