OSU Cross Country Back at Home for OSU Invitational

Saturday, October 17

Stillwater, OK

9:00 AM

Oklahoma State University

OSU Invitational

October 14, 2020 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

Meet Notes

THE BASICS
The Oklahoma State men's and women's cross country teams are back in action on their home course for the OSU Invitational. In their second meet of the condensed season, the Cowboys will look for a second-straight team win after taking home the Cowboy Jamboree title on Oct. 3, while the Cowgirls will look to build off of their runner-up team finish from the Jamboree. In the men's 8K, Isai Rodriguez led the Cowboys across the finish line in second place overall, followed closely by Victor Shitsama in third. Ryan Smeeton in fifth place, Ryan Schoppe in sixth and Alex Maier coming in at No. 7 rounded out the Cowboys top 10 finishers. For the Cowgirls in the women's 6K, Taylor Roe was the first across the line for OSU in second place overall. Directly behind Roe was Gabby Hentemann in third. Sivan Auerbach, Rilee Rigdon, Heidi Demeo and Lilly Lavier all finished in the top-20 and scored points for the Cowgirls in their runner-up finish.

BACK FOR MORE
Although the fall cross country season was unaffected by NCAA cancellations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, for many of the distance runners of OSU's program, their last competition was over a year ago. The Cowboys enter into the new season after a runner-up finish at the 2019 Big 12 Championships and a fifth-place finish in the NCAA Midwest Regional. The Cowgirls are a year removed from capturing their second-ever Big 12 title and a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional. Such impressive team finishes for the women rested on the shoulders of two All American Cowgirls in Molly Born and Taylor Somers, who raced as individuals in the NCAA National Championships and crossed the finish line in 16th and 18th place, respectively.

THE FIELD
BYU (Men's 8K and Women's 6K)
Kansas State (Men's 8K and Women's 6K)
NAU (Men's 8K and Women's 6K)
Oklahoma (Men's 8K and Women's 6K)
Oklahoma Christian (Men's 8K and Women's 6K)
Oklahoma State (Men's 8K and Women's 6K)
Southern Utah (Men's 8K and Women's 6K)
UTEP (Men's 8K and Women's 6K)
*Unattached runners from Colorado will compete in both races

FOLLOW THE MEET
Fans can either follow the action live on Twitter by following @run4okstate for updates or check the links below for real-time results. Official results will be published on www.okstate.com, along with a recap of OSU's day on the course.
Real Time Individual Tracking - https://www.athlinks.com/event/343816/results/Event/941658/Results
Final Results Link (when they become available) - http://results.tfmeetpro.com/Red_Dirt_Race_Management/OSU_Invitational/

MEET SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES CST)
The OSU Invitational will take place at the OSU Cross Country Course
- Men's 8K: 9 a.m.
- Women's 6K: 9:50 a.m.

FROM HEAD COACH DAVE SMITH
On the field of competition for OSU Invite:
"This meet this weekend is going to be a step up in the competitive level. On paper, we've got two or three teams coming who are potentially better than Iowa State, last year's Big 12 Champion. Having three of them here at once, it'll be a battle between those three or four teams, which we're looking forward to seeing."

On athletes' mindset while preparing to race against elite-level competition:
"They know who they're running with. It's not like, if the football team was playing Alabama, you'd have to tell them, 'Oh, by the way, we're playing a great team.' They know their competition. We seem to be running with a bit of of a chip on our shoulder. The guys feel like they might be getting overlooked a little bit. We're underdogs in this race for good reason and I think they like running from that position."

On the importance of younger athletes stepping up amidst injuries:
"With some of our leaders out, our women especially, are limping into this one. At the same time, it's giving young athletes, some of whom have never really done this before, the opportunity to step up; not only to run, but to run with some consequences and the chance to make a difference for their team."