Women’s cross-country takes first

The Lady Eagles took top honors as a team as well as an individual first-place finish at the Midwestern State University Invitational.

The Oklahoma Christian University women’s cross country team ran in its final regular season meet in Wichita Falls, Texas. It finished the regular season by taking the first place crown as a team and Layne Hammer earned her second individual win of the season.

Going into the Midwestern State Invitational, Cross Country Head Coach Wade Miller said the meet was to serve as a stepping-stone to prepare for the conference meet. He said the conditions would be similar to what they will see at the conference.

“This meet was a small, low-key meet that gave us an opportunity to race over the 6K distance in preparation for the championship portion of our season,” Miller said. “It was an afternoon race and gave us the opportunity to see conditions that could be similar to those in Laredo, Texas, where our conference meet will be held on Oct. 24.”

Hammer posted a time of 22:51.5 along the 6,000-meter course. She beat the next best runner by just under 40 seconds.

The Lady Eagles had five runners in the top 10 among the 29-woman field. Aubrey Watson placed fifth with her time of 24:27, followed by sixth-place Maci Rich with her time of 24:33.9.

With her time of 25:08.6, Tara Lewis placed eighth followed by Molly McQuirk at ninth with a time of 25:12.

Going into the race, Rich said it was a step-up in distance, and the preparation intensity was upped a little bit because the playoffs are nearing.

“The past couple of weeks we have increased the volume of our workouts to prepare for the 6k races,” Rich said. “We have also increased our pace in our workouts. At this point in the season I think everyone is starting to hit their peak and where we need to be in comparison to our competition. We are hoping to place really well at conference.”

The Lady Eagles do not race until the Heartland Conference Championship meet in Laredo, Texas on Oct. 24.

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