Photo by Roxie Gonzalez
The Oklahoma Christian University women’s cross-country team placed in the top five at the Oklahoma State University Cowboy Jamboree, while the men continued to work through lingering injuries.
“Really this week has been about recovering and getting in some moderate work,” junior Bryant Keirns said before the meet on Sept. 27. “Our preparation for this meet will come from work we’ve already done.”
The Eagles struggled in the beginning of their season with multiple injuries. The team finished 14th of 16 at the Missouri Southern Stampede a week earlier.
“As a team we’ve been trying to clean up injuries that have stuck around,” Keirns said.
Keirns, who has remained healthy at the beginning of the season, was named the Heartland Conference cross-country runner of the week.
Leading Oklahoma Christian, Keirns ran the 8,000-meter in 26:27.58 to earn 16th out of the 64 runners competing outside of NCAA Division I. Behind him were Sisay Gillock, taking 22nd with a time of 27:12.07 and Timothy Zuercher at 27:28.92, claiming 26th.
Evan Durrill ran a 27:54.75 and Blake Thompson finished in 28:32.44, placing 37th and 48th, respectively. Emory Lobely earned 54th with a 29:19.14 and Tanner Cate finished 61st at 31:07.84.
The Eagles beat several teams in Stillwater, but because of separations between Division I schools and non-Division I schools, they came in last in their group.
For their third consecutive meet, the Lady Eagles placed in the top 10 among competing schools.
According to sophomore Layne Hammer, Cross-County Head Coach Wade Miller has developed strategies to address the terrain of each course.
“The course we ran today was very hilly, so we did a lot of hill work to prepare,” Hammer said. “Coach Miller made us do a lot of hill strides.”
Maci Rich led the team for a second week with a 12th-place time of 19:50.23 over the 5,000-meter race.
“Maci has really performed well over the past few weeks,” Miller said. “She is gaining confidence in her training and racing, and it is paying dividends. I’m pleased with her focus during races – she’s an excellent competitor.”
Behind Rich was Ainsley Ibison at 20:33.07 in 32nd and Hammer at 21:03.79 in 47th place.Katie Jones’ 21:20.89 earned 56th and Sarah Cobb finished out Oklahoma Christian’s top five at 64th with a time of 21:38.98.
Emily Morton finished 75th with a 22:00.60, Maria Sargent placed 94th at 22:43.39 and Tayia Hoheisel crossed the finish line in 24:20.38 to claim 126th place.
Like the men’s team, the Lady Eagles have also dealt with injuries, but on a much lesser scale. Hammer said that her mental toughness has also been challenged at times.
“I’ve been having more problems this season,” Hammer said. “Last year I had confidence problems when it came to racing, so I’m working on that. But I’ve been sick and having some knee aches, so for the time being I’ve just been focusing on getting well.”
Oklahoma Christian’s next meet is the Oklahoma Baptist Invitational in Shawnee, Oklahoma on Oct. 11. Miller said his runners will train with the upcoming meet in mind.
“I’m looking forward to OBU,” Miller said. “We are focused on gaining more race-specific fitness and that should pay off during the championship portion of our season in a month or so.”
0
0
Be First to Comment