OSU Cross Country Notches Pair of 11th-Place Finishes in Terre Haute

Saturday, October 19

Terre Haute, IN

10 A.M. CT

Oklahoma State University

Pre-National Invitational

OSU Cross Country Notches Pair of 11th-Place Finishes in Terre Haute

October 19, 2019 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

STILLWATER - The Oklahoma State cross country teams made their first trip of the season to Terre Haute, Indiana, this morning for the Pre-National Invitational. The No. 14 Cowboys and the No. 30 Cowgirls both finished 11^th overall as a team.

The Pre-National Invitational featured a very stout field. Eleven of the top-30 teams in the USTFCCCA National Cross Country Poll were in attendance, and 10 of the top-30 women's teams were in Terre Haute. OSU was joined by Big 12 opponents Oklahoma, Kansas and Kansas State.

2018 All-American Isai Rodriguez made his much-anticipated season debut and picked up right where he left off last season. Rodriguez ran near the front of the pack for the entirety of the race and led the pack around the halfway point. After a very competitive final 400 meters, Rodriguez finished third in his first collegiate race since last year's indoor season. The sophomore's time of 23:23.8 was the third-fastest 8K time in OSU history.

Following Rodriguez, Bryce Quigley placed 55^th overall, Alex Maier was 69^th, Adam Dayani finished 109^th and Alec Haines rounded out the Cowboys' top-five with his 161^st-place finish.

"It was great to have Isai [Rodriguez] back out there and he showed that he is one of the best in the country," head coach Dave Smith said. "Unfortunately, we lost Ashe [Hatte] mid race and that really cost us. We will add [Ryan] Smeeton back to the mix in two weeks and I think we will have as good of a top three as anybody in the conference. However, if we want to be the type of team we think we can be, our four through seven runners must keep on improving week by week."

For the Cowgirls, Molly Born and Taylor Somers had strong performances, finishing eighth and ninth place overall. It was the second-consecutive top-10 finish for both Born and Somers, who finished fifth and sixth place at the Chile Pepper Festival two weeks ago. Born's time of 20:24.6 clocked in at No. 9 all-time on OSU's 6K list, and Somers' time of 20:26.1 was tenth-fastest all-time.

Kaytlyn Larson cracked the top-100, finishing 94^th, Ariane Ballner finished 114^th and freshman Gabby Hentemann rounded out the top-five for the Cowgirls in 160^th.

"Molly [Born] and Taylor [Somers] took another great step forward and are a potent one and two," Smith said. "We made progress with our three through seven runners, but we still have a lot of work to do over the next four weeks."

The Pokes will travel to Waco, Texas, two weeks from today for the Big 12 Championships where they will look to one-up last year's pair of runner-up team finishes.

Men's Race – Individual (8K)

3. Isai Rodriguez – 23:23.8
55. Bryce Quigley – 24:29.0
69. Alex Maier – 24:35.0
109. Adam Dayani – 24:55.6
161. Alec Haines – 25:26.8
162. Ayrton Ledesma Fuentes – 25:26.9
DNF. – Ashenafi Hatte

Men's OPEN Race – Individual (6K)

31. Sukhi Khosla – 25:54.6
33. Juan Diego Castro – 25:56.9
38. Manuel Olivo-Quinones – 26:03.5
39. Garrett Calhoun – 26:05.00

Women's Race – Individual (6K)

8. Molly Born – 20:24.6
9. Taylor Somers – 20:26.1
94. Kaytlyn Larson – 21:26.0
114. Ariane Ballner – 21:35.8
160. Gabby Hentemann – 22:00.3
168. Montanna McAvoy – 22:02.7
DNF. – Taylor Roe

Women's OPEN Race – Individual (6K)

18. Katherine Ruck – 22:11.2
32. Amanda Mayoral – 22:39.9
46. Anna Gunter – 23:07.7

Men's Race – Team

1. BYU (81)
2. Colorado (83)
3. Iona (140)
4.Washington (160)
11. Oklahoma State – (397)

Women's Race – Team

1. Washington (84)
2. BYU (87)
3. Colorado (126)
4. Michigan (164)
11. Oklahoma State – (380)