Eldridge Earns Trip to NCAA CC Championship

STILLWATER, Okla. -- For true freshman Jessica Eldridge, her first season as a Sooner had already been something special. On Saturday, she did something no Sooner woman had done since 1996 -- qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championship.

The Broken Arrow freshman covered the 6k course at Oklahoma State in 21:27 to finish third overall in the standings at the NCAA Midwest Regional and earn a spot in the NCAA Championship on Nov. 24 in Waterloo, Iowa. The top two teams and the top four individuals not on a qualifying team at each of nine regional meets held today earned a trip to the NCAA.

The Sooner women finished eighth overall, the best team finish for the OU women since a fifth-place finish in 1993. Nicola Maye was 23rd with a 22:07 and Catherine Odell ran a 22:36 to finish 32nd.

Nebraska won the women's title with 60 points. OU finished with 202 points.

The times posted by Eldridge, Odell and senior Amanda Luksetich (23:26) were career bests in a 6k race.

The OU men, led by a pair of top 20 individual finishes, finished sixth overall. That finish was the best for the Sooner men since at least 1990. Silverus Kimeli finished 16th with a 31:40 on the 10k course and Joe McNair covered the course in 31:42. Oklahoma State won the men's title with 78 points and OU finished with 178 points.

The overall finishes by Eldridge, Maye, Kimeli and McNair earned each of them All-Region honors. It marked the first time in nine years for the Sooner women to have two All-Region runners and first time since 1995 for the Sooner men to produce an All-Region duo.

Today's performances also marked all-time career best regional finishes for three Sooner seniors. McNair's previous career best finish was 46th last year. Jimmy Buchanan, who finished 41st today, had a previous best of 43rd. The most dramatic improvement came from Luksetich, who improved from a previous best of 105th to 84th today.

NCAA Midwest Regional
Men's Team Standings 1. Oklahoma State 78; 2. Minnesota 89; 3. Iowa 129; 4. Kansas 136; 5. Loyola-Illinois 139; 6. OKLAHOMA 178; 7. Missouri 191; 8. Illinois 199; 9. Drake 212; 10. Northern Iowa 273; 11. Eastern Illinois 316; 12. Tulsa 328; 13. Kansas State 342; 14. Southern Illinois 367; 15. Wichita State 387; 16. Southwest Missouri State 390; 17. DePaul 394; 18. Nebraska 412; 19. Illinois-Chicago 527; 20. Western Illinois 535; 21. Saint Louis 594; 22. Bradley 595
Individual Winner -- Mindaugas Pukstas, Oklahoma State, 30:39
OU Results -- 16. Silverus Kimeli 31:40; 18. Joe McNair 31:42; 41. Jimmy Buchanan 32:23; 49. Jason Coleman 32:33; 58. Darren Hutchins 32:52; 72. Blake Culp 33:06

Women's Team Standings -- 1. Nebraska 60; 2. Missouri 63; 3. Illinois 105; 4. Southwest Missouri State 157; 5. Kansas 171; 6. Minnesota 178; 7. Northwestern 185; 8. OKLAHOMA 202; 9. Iowa 283; 10. Illinois State 344; 11. Southern Illinois 364; 13. Iowa State 388; 14. Southeast Missouri State 392; 15. Loyola-Illinois 400; 16. Tulsa 404; 17. Eastern Illinois 413; 18. DePaul 454; 19. Bradley 487; 20. Western Illinois 488; 21. Kansas State 499; 22. Northern Iowa 600; 23. Oklahoma State 613; 24. Saint Louis 663.
Individual Winner -- Amanda Bales, Missouri, 21:18
OU Results -- 3. Jessica Eldridge 21:27; 23. Nicola Maye 22:07; 32. Catherine Odell 22:36; 68. Andrea Bonner 23:11; 84. Amanda Luksetich 23:26

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Eldridge Earns Trip to NCAA CC Championship

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