Cross Country Headed to Madison to Preview Championship Course

The Cowboys at the 2017 Big 12 Championships

Cross Country Headed to Madison to Preview Championship Course

September 26, 2018 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

Meet Information
• Event - Nuttycombe Invitational
• Times - Women's "B" Race: 11 a.m.; Men's "B" Race: 11:40 a.m.; Women's Championship Race: 12:20 p.m.; Men's Championship Race: 1 p.m.
• OSU Entries - Men: Alec Haines, Ashenafi Hatte, Nick Kenville, Sukhi Khosla, Owen Krewson ,Ayrton Ledesma Fuentes, Jorge Perez, Bryce Quigley and Ryan Smeeton; Women: Grace Baker, Ariane Ballner, Molly Born, Kaylee Dodd, Anna Gunter, Kami Hankins, Abbie Hetherington, Sinclaire Johnson, Kaytlyn Larson, Jenny Martinez, Katherine Ruck, Taylor Somers, Morgan Szekely and Cheynne Walden
• Course - Thomas Zimmer Championship Course
• Meet Notes

The Basics
   This is the second time the Oklahoma State cross country teams take the course, with this race being the debut for most of the OSU roster.
   The Cowboys will send some experienced tranfers to Madison, and the Cowgirls bring back a majority of its experience from a year ago, when they finished as the Big 12 runner-up.
   The men will look to bounce back from a fourth-place finish at the Hurricane Invitational. The women, on the other hand, look to keep their success rolling from the season opener in Tulsa, where they placed second.

Follow the Meet
   Fans can follow the action live on Twitter by following @run4okstate for updates. Final results will be published on www.gopsusports.com as well as www.okstate.com, along with a recap of OSU's day on the course.

Meet Schedule (All Times CT)
   The 10th annual Nuttycombe Invitational presented by Under Armour will have two sections of races: the "A" race and the "B" race. The women's "B" race starts the day at 11 a.m. with the men's "B" race following at 11:40 a.m.
   The "A" races commence with the women's 6K starting at 12:20 p.m. and the men's "A" race wraps up the slate of races at 1 p.m.

Dave Smith on How He Feel Going into the Race
    "I'm excited. I think our group is ready to run.It's hard when you're training, six, seven, eight weeks in a row without a real test or real competition. They're chomping at the bit to get out there and see where they are. It's still early season for us, so for most of us, it's the first real competitive race for us. There will be some rust, but we're going to go out there and run hard."

Oklahoma State in the Rankings
   Despite only one competition under the Oklahoma State cross country team's belt, both the men's and women's squads are ranked in the top 30.
   In the Week 3 of the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Coaches' Poll, the Cowboys came in at No. 22 and the Cowgirls were ranked in a tie for 29th with Portland.
   The last time the Cowboys weren't ranked was in Week 3 of 2005, but even then, the Cowboys received votes. The last time the OSU men's squad has been left entirely off the Coaches' Poll was in Week 6 in 2002. The extended stay in the rankings matches the tenure of Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Dave Smith.
   The Cowgirls have also enjoyed success in weekly rankings. Since 2010, the Cowgirls have been unranked with no votes received only five times. Smith has turned the women's program around, putting them in the national conversation year in and year out.

Starting Off on the Right Foot
   For many of the OSU runners, the Nuttycombe Invitational will be their first look at the cross country course this season.
   On the men's side, four runners are slated to make their season debut. Ryan Smeeton, Ashenafi Hatte, Ayrton Ledesma Fuentes and Jorge Perez will all lead the pack in their season-opening race for the Cowboys.
   On the women's side, Abbie Hetherington, Ariane Ballner, Cheyenne Walden, Kaytlyn Larson, Molly Born and Taylor Somers will make the trip to Madison, Wisconsin, to make their debut this season.
   Molly Born is a freshman for the Cowgirls and is set to run in her first collegiate race.