Pokes Travel to Terre Haute For Pre-National Invitational

Saturday, October 19

Terre Haute, IN

10 A.M. CT

Oklahoma State University

Pre-National Invitational

Pokes Travel to Terre Haute For Pre-National Invitational

October 17, 2019 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

THE BASICS
The Oklahoma State men's and women's cross country teams are coming off a pair of top-four finishes at the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Cowboys placed third in the 8K race, while the Cowgirls finished fourth in the 5K. The Cowboys were led by 2018 All-American Ashenafi Hatte, who finished first among collegiate entries and third overall. Hatte was named Big 12 Runner of the Week for his performance. For the Cowgirls, Molly Born and Taylor Somers put down the fourth and fifth-fastest 5K times in OSU history and finished fifth and sixth-place overall. All five Cowgirl scorers finished in the top-50. The USTFCCCA National Cross Country Coaches Polls currently have the Cowboys ranked at No. 14 and the Cowgirls at No. 30. This season marks the 11th season under nine-time Big 12 Coach of the Year, Dave Smith.

COWBOYS & COWGIRLS RELOADED
Last year, the Oklahoma State cross country teams turned in a pair of top-20 finishes at the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Led by All-Americans Isai Rodriguez (4th place) and Ashenafi Hatte (27th) the Cowboys earned a 13th place finish, while the Cowgirls finished 19th thanks to Sinclaire Johnson (48th), who turned pro following an outstanding junior season that included a national title in the outdoor 1,500. Rodriguez, who is currently in his sophomore season, was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year after a second-place finish at the conference XC championship. Hatte is also back for his senior season.

THE FIELD
Oklahoma State will be one of four Big 12 schools running at the Pre-National Invitational. Along with OSU, Oklahoma, Kansas and Kansas State will compete.

All in all, Saturday's races will feature 57 men's teams (602 athletes) and 64 women's teams (659 athletes).

Ranked men's teams: No. 2 BYU, No. 3 Colorado, No. 4 Washington, No. 8 Ole Miss, No. 14 OSU, No. 15 Indiana, No. 21 Iona, No. 25 Eastern Kentucky, No. 27 Arkansas, No. 29 Virginia Tech, No. 30 Florida State

Ranked women's teams: No. 2 BYU, No. 3 Colorado, No. 7 Michigan, No. 8 Washington, T- No. 11 Boise State, T-No. 11 Florida State, No. 17 Ole Miss, No. 20 Illinois, No. 26 Boston College, No. 30 OSU

FOLLOW THE MEET
Fans can follow the action live on Twitter by following @run4okstate for updates. Live results can be found at http://pttiming.com/events/87931607, and the meet will be streamed live on FloTrack.org. 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 Pre-National Invitational will take place at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana. The street address for the course is: 599 S Tabortown St, Terre Haute, IN 47803. Other options for GPS and Google Map users: Use LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.

• Women's Blue Race (6K) 10:00 a.m.
• Men's Blue Race (8K) 10:35 a.m.
• Women's White Race (6K) 11:15 a.m.
• Men's White Race (8K) 11:50 a.m.
• Women's Open Race (6K) 12:30 p.m.
• Men's Open Race (8K) 1:05 p.m.

FROM COACH SMITH
On adding Isai Rodriguez back into the Cowboys' mix: "Isai is a great low stick in any race we run and the bigger the field the more dramatic his presence is for our team score. I also think having him in the lineup gives the other guys a lot of confidence and takes a lot of pressure off of them. The guys have had a fantastic two weeks of practice and I think each of them will be significantly better than they were two weeks ago."

On Cowboy freshman Alex Maier: "We still haven't made a final determination on Alex, but his training is really starting to come around. He is a big part of our plans for the future and some experience this year would be good for him. We are going to play it by ear the next couple of days. Whether he runs or not might be a race time decision."

On the Cowgirls' strong performance at the Chile Pepper: "Molly [Born] and Taylor [Somers] are off to fantastic starts and are right where we need them to be. If they just have typical progressions over the remainder of the season, they will be All-America level athletes by the NCAA Championships. I was very impressed by Taylor [Roe] and Gabby [Hentemann] at the Chile Pepper in their first collegiate races. They ran like veterans. We had already decided not to redshirt Taylor, but based on Gabby's race, we decided to run her in uniform this week."