Hammer's third place win leads women's cross country team to third

A third-place individual finish from Layne Hammer led the Lady Eagles cross country team to a third-place finish as well at the Heartland Conference meet on Saturday.

Hammer entered on the heels of two consecutive race wins – the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree and the Midwestern State Invitational. She completed the Heartland Conference meet’s 6,000-meter course with a career best time of 21:58.9.

Coming into the race, Hammer said she and her team were prepared and they were looking to exceed expectations.

“Training was pretty similar as the rest of the season, our mileage has just been reduced a bit, but we were still getting the tough workouts in,” Hammer said. “We placed third which was really cool because we were projected to get fifth, so it was neat to prove some people wrong, but ultimately I just want everyone to do their best and be happy with their run and know they put everything out there on the table.”

Maci Rich and Aubrey Watson were the next two Lady Eagles to cross the finish line. Rich posted a time of 23:25.7 at 14th and Watson was a step behind at 15th with her time of 23:27.7.

Oklahoma Christian University’s final two runners in the top five were Molly McQuirk and Katie Jones. McQuirk finished 25th with a time of 24:11.1. Jones rounded out the Lady Eagles’ top five at 36th place with her 24:40.9.

Miller commended the team, She said it was a huge team effort to earn the third-place finish.

“The ladies had a good team effort and overcame a poor start to work their way up through the field,” Miller said. “It was a very close race for second through fifth, and we were definitely in the back half of the 10-team field in the first two miles. We really had to press in the middle of the race to make up ground and we were able to fight our way back into podium contention.”

The Lady Eagles prepare to compete Nov. 7, in the South Central Regional meet – the school’s first NCAA Division II playoff meet.

Statistics provided by Oklahoma Christian University Sports Information Department.