Sooner Men Third, Women Sixth in Regional CC Poll

NORMAN, Okla. - A pair of strong performances in the FinishLynx/Murray Keatinge Invitational last Saturday helped boost the OU men's and women's cross country teams in the latest regional rankings.

The Sooner men, ranked seventh in the poll on Sept. 29, jumped to third in the MONDO Division I men's poll that was released Monday. The improvement came two days after OU finished fourth in the meet in Orono, Maine. The OU men were ranked 10th in the preseason poll, conducted by the United States Cross Country Coaches Association, after finishing 13th in the NCAA Regional last November. OU moved to seventh in the first regular season poll and stayed in seventh during the second week of the poll.

Silverus Kimeli led OU last Saturday, finishing 10th in the five mile race with a 24:17.70. Senior Joe McNair finished 16th with a 24:35.80 and senior Jimmy Buchanan was 24th with a 24:41.40. OU had all seven of its runners finish in the top 45 of the race which included 107 runners. Six of the seven Sooner runners also established career best marks in the event.

The Sooner women, unranked in the region at the beginning of the season, moved from seventh in the Sept. 30 poll to sixth in the Finish/Lynx women's Division I poll that was released today. That poll is conducted by the Women's Intercollegiate Cross Country Coaches Association. The Sooners, using five freshmen, finished a close third in the Maine meet on Saturday. Florida edged OU by one point for second place.

True freshman Jessica Eldridge posted her third consecutive career best mark in the 5k to finish eighth and lead the OU women. She covered the course in 17:19.10. Redshirt freshman Nicola Maye finished 10th with a 17:49.50 and true freshman Catherine Odell finished 12th with an 18:02.90 as the Sooners placed all five runners in the top 35 of the event which included 80 runners. Three of the five Sooner women improved their career best times in the event.

'We were extremely pleased with the performance Saturday and it's great to see that other people have taken note of what our runners are doing,' said Sooner head cross country coach Rodney Rothoff. 'It's a great reward for the hard work and effort our runners have been putting in since August to be ranked regionally. It's also exciting to know that we can still improve and we haven't run our best race yet.'

OU will return to competition on Saturday, Oct. 18, when the Sooners travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for the annual Chile Pepper Invitational.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooner Men Third, Women Sixth in Regional CC Poll

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