Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Big 12 Championships
OSU Cross Country Hunting for Pair of Big 12 Titles in Waco
October 31, 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 11th- place finishes at the Pre-National invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana. Isai Rodriguez, a 2018 All-American, made his season debut and posted a third-place finish, the first Cowboy to cross the finish line. Rodriguez's time of 23:23.8 was the third-fastest 8K time in OSU history. The Cowgirls were once again led by Molly Born and Taylor Somers, who finished eighth and ninth, respectively. Their finishes marked consecutive top-10 finishes for the duo, and Born earned her first career Big 12 Runner of the Week honor for her performance. The USTFCCCA National Cross Country Coaches Polls currently have the Cowboys ranked at No. 27 and the Cowgirls at No. 29 nationally. 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 look to knock off back-to-back champions Iowa State in the men's and women's team competition. The Cowboys and Cowgirls look to improve upon last year's runner-up finishes in the team races. The Cowgirls last took home the Big 12 title in 2015, and have been runners-up in each of the past three years. The Cowboys have won nine of the last 11 Big 12 team championships, and finished second last year in Ames.
Ranked men's teams: No. 5 Iowa State, No. 27 OSU, No. 30 Texas
Ranked women's teams: No.29 OSU
FOLLOW THE MEET
The meet will be streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Fans can follow the action live on Twitter by following @run4okstate for updates. Live results can be accessed at http://results.
MEET SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES CT)
The Big 12 Championships, hosted by Baylor, will take place at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course in Waco, Texas. The street adress for the course is: 5200 Bagby Avenue, Waco, Texas 76711. Other options for GPS and Google Map users: Use Cottonwood Creek Golf Course.
• Men's 8K - 10:00 a.m.
• Women's 6K - 11:00 a.m.
FROM COACH SMITH
On this weekend's meet: "We're running for championships, period. What I project is that we're going to run for the championship. Whether we get it or not, that's our motivation. Anything other than that is not winning a championship, so that's what we're talking about and focused on. That's what we're running for. We've got a good three team battle on both sides. On the women's side, I think Texas and West Virginia are looking pretty good. On the men's side, Iowa State is probably a top-10 team nationally and Texas is running better than they have in a while. On both sides, it is a competitive conference."
A strong showing this weekend will likely be due to these factors: "We have three really good guys up front. We have a lot of fire power in our top three. I'm pretty sure I know what they're going to do. Between the three of them, we're probably going to score between six and ten points, so we have to find two more guys to consistently be fourth and fifth. If we have a good day on the men's side, it'll be because we had two guys break out of that group of four, five or six that are vying for fourth and fifth and run really well... On the women's side, it's almost identical. We've got two really good women and then a group of about five or six that are pretty equal, and we have to have three of them have breakout performances. If the top two run the way they have all year, they're doing their jobs. We have some true freshmen that could contribute and really help us out."
Players Mentioned
