Cowboys Win Tiebreaker for 2020 Big 12 Cross Country Title

Friday, October 30

Lawrence, KS

10:00 AM

Oklahoma State University

Big 12 Cross Country Championship

Cowboys Win Tiebreaker for 2020 Big 12 Cross Country Title

October 30, 2020 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Oklahoma State Cowboy cross country team earned the team win at the 2020 Big 12 Cross Country Championship in the event's first-ever tiebreaker, marking the 10th conference title in men's program history

The Cowgirls finished fourth as a team, highlighted by a pair of finishes in the top-five.

For the third-consecutive time, junior Isai Rodriguez paced the Cowboys, finishing second overall with a time of 22:49.3. Joining Rodriguez in the top-10 was Victor Shitsama at 23:27.1 in fifth place, Alex Maier at sixth in a time of 23:28.7, Ryan Smeeton finishing eighth with a run of 23:32.0 and Ryan Schoppe in tenth at 23:36.7.

Maier, Smeeton and Schoppe determined the tiebreaker over Iowa State, beating out the Cyclones' third, fourth and fifth place finishers. Adam Dayani and Isaiah Priddey rounded out the Cowboys, finishing in the top-25 at 20th and 25th place, respectively.

"A win at conference like this over Iowa State, it gives us a lot of confidence," men's distance coach Justin Duncan said. "We're going to take a little bit of down time; these guys will be on a bit of a high coming off of this one. After that, we're going to get back to work and do what we've always done."

The Cowgirls were represented in the top-five of the women's 6K by a pair of sophomores in Taylor Roe and Gabby Hentemann, who both set new personal bests at Rim Rock Farm this morning. Roe led Oklahoma State to the finish for the third-straight time this season. The Washington-native finished as the overall runner-up in a time of 20:07.8. Directly behind Roe, in third place, Hentemann shaved a minute off her previous season-best and crossed the finish line at 20:48.4.

Roe and Hentemann were joined in the top-25 by 19th-place finisher Ariane Ballner, who ran a time of 21:51.1, Heidi Demeo who crossed the line in 22nd place in 21:55.9 and Rilee Rigdon in 25th with a 21:59.7 run.

"Obviously, we didn't get the team result we wanted in terms of our team score, but we had a lot of good things happen for us today, " women's distance coach Anna Boyert-Thorp said. "I think Taylor Roe has established herself as a top-20 athlete in the nation, which is pretty exciting. Gabby had a breakthrough today which was good to see. Once we add back in Molly Born and Taylor Somers, we'll have a pretty good team that'll be ready to run in the national championship on our home course."

Oklahoma State cross country will have the winter to prepare for the NCAA National Championships on its home course in March.

Women's Race - Individual (6K)
2. Taylor Roe - 20:07.8
3. Gabby Hentemann - 20:48.4
19. Ariane Ballner - 21:51.1
22. Heidi Demeo - 21:55.9
25. Rilee Rigdon - 21:59.7
30. Sivan Auerbach - 22:09.8
43. Lilly Lavier - 22:40.6
47. Maddie Salek - 22:46.2
51. Taylor Somers - 23:15.2
– Molly Born - DNF

Men's Race - Individual (8K)
2. Isai Rodriguez - 22:49.3
5. Victor Shitsama - 23:27.1
6. Alex Maier - 23:28.7
8. Ryan Smeeton - 23:32.0
10. Ryan Schoppe - 23:36.7
20. Adam Dayani - 24:14.3
25. Isaiah Priddey - 24:20.9
27. Jonas Price - 24:29.1
29. Chris Middleton-Pearson - 24:34.1
30. Will Muirhead - 24:34.2

Women's Race - Team
1. Iowa State - 39
2. Texas - 62
3. West Virginia - 66
4. Oklahoma State - 71

Men's Race - Team
1. Oklahoma State - 31*
2. Iowa State - 31
3. Texas - 84
4. Kansas State - 103
*Oklahoma State determined winner by Big 12 tiebreaking procedures (head-to-head amongst top-five runners)