OSU Cross Country Set to Host NCAA Midwest Regional

THE BASICS
The Oklahoma State men's and women's cross country teams are coming off stellar performances at the Big 12 Championships. The Cowgirls won their second Big 12 title in program history and the Cowboys finished as runners-up for the second year in a row. The Cowgirls were once again led by Taylor Somers and Molly Born, who finished second and third, respectively, marking the duo's third-consecutive top-10 finish. Kaytlyn Larson finished 12th to earn All -Big 12 team honors with Somers and Born. The Cowboys were led by Isai Rodriguez who finished as the conference runner-up for the second straight year. Ryan Smeeton, who made his season debut for the Pokes, came in third place. Bryce Quigley earned a 14th place finish and All-Big 12 honors. The USTFCCCA National Cross Country Coaches Polls currently have the Cowboys ranked at No. 23 and the Cowgirls at No. 25 nationally.

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 Iowa State, last year's regional champions in the men's and women's team races. The women's side of the regional will include 35 teams, while the men's side will consist of 32 teams. OSU is joined in the Stillwater regional by fellow Big 12 schools Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma.

Ranked men's teams: No. 5 Iowa State, No. 7 Tulsa, No. 23 OSU
Ranked women's teams: No. 22 Illinois, No. 26 Minnesota, No. 25 OSU

FOLLOW THE MEET
Fans can follow the action live on Twitter by following @run4okstate for updates. Live results can be found at: http://results.tfmeetpro.com/Big_River_Race_Management/2019_NCAA_XC_Midwest_Regional/
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 NCAA Regional hosted by Oklahoma State University, will take place at the Oklahoma State University Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Oklahoma. GPS and Google Map users: Use Oklahoma State University Cross Country Course.

• Women's 6K - 10:30 a.m.
• Men's 10K - 11:30 a.m.

FROM COACH SMITH
On this weekend's home meet:
"Well, it's always great to run on your home course, stay in your hometown, and have people out there who know you and appreciate what you're doing. We're looking forward to that. We're also looking forward to debuting on this course. We've been thinking about it for two or three years now and to finally see it done and ready to go in a big-time setting, we're really excited."

On the team's chances and what he hopes to see:
"I think both teams have a good shot, but both teams have some work to do. I think the opportunity is there, but we're going to have to have great days on both sides. I think on the men's side, Tulsa and Iowa State seem to be the front runners for the top two auto-qualifiers, and on the women's side, Minnesota and Illinois are very good. Tulsa and Missouri are also good. For the women, there are probably even more teams that are contending for those two spots that I think have legitamate shots. We are going to stick our noses in it and see what happens."

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Molly Born

Ashenafi Hatte

Sinclaire Johnson

Kaytlyn Larson

Bryce Quigley

Isai Rodriguez

Ryan Smeeton

Taylor Somers

Oklahoma State University Athletics