Women’s cross-country runs the extra kilometer in last regular season race

Photo by Roxie Gonzalez

The Oklahoma Christian University women’s cross-country team finished sixth in its last race of the regular season on Saturday, Oct. 25 at the West Texas A&M Buffalo Stampede.

“This meet was a tough one,” Freshman Ainsley Ibison said. “It was a 6K instead of a 5K, so that added some extra mental toughness to the race, but I buckled down and made the race my own.”

Ibison finished 23rd in the 74-woman field with a 24:48 finish following closely behind the Lady Eagles’ lead runner Maci Rich who finished in 24:14 at 17th.

Sarah Cobb ran a 25:57, Katie Jones finished at 26:12 and Layne Hammer ended with a 26:22, earning 42nd, 44th and 48th respectively in the six-kilometer race.

Emily Morton completed the race in 27:31 at 56th, Tavia Hoheisel at 66th with 30:06 and Maria Sargent with a 30:20 to earn 67th.

Ibison said the team trained specifically for the longer course in the weeks before the meet.

“I’m always proud of my team,” Ibison said. “But especially this past week because of the intensity of training that we’ve endured in order to perform as well as we did on such a long course.”

Women’s Cross-Country Assistant Coach Kaili Tucker said she was pleased with Ibison’s run on Saturday.

“She did wonderful with the transition into the 6K distance,” Tucker said. “She ran with confidence, and I am looking forward to seeing how she performs at conference in two weeks.”

Oklahoma Christian will travel to Wichita, Kansas on Nov. 8 for the Heartland Conference Championship, giving the team two weeks of practice before the meet.

According to Ibison, team workouts for the next two weeks will most likely focus on pace rather than distance.

“Our training in mileage may wean off a bit in order to help us recover,” Ibison said. “But our speed work will intensify.”

Tucker said she expects the Lady Eagles to be a top contender in Wichita.

“I have high hopes for the girls this year,” Tucker said. “I would like to see them finish in the top five. I think they are capable of giving the top few teams an excellent race.”

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