OU Women Win Hurricane CC Festival Title

TULSA, Okla. -- The youth movement took over Saturday for the Sooner cross country program as five freshmen led the OU women to the title in the ninth annual Hurricane Cross Country Festival. The season-opening race for the Sooners was held Saturday morning on a wet and muddy Mohawk Park course.

Redshirt freshman Nicola Maye led OU, finishing second in the two-mile race with a time of 12:34. Just behind her in 12:35 was Enid freshman Catherine Odell. Jessica Eldridge finished seventh followed by Andrea Bonner and Kristi Cook as the OU women edged Kansas State, 37-40.

Freshman Jason Coleman of Watonga led the Sooner men who finished a close third behind Tulsa and Kansas State in the men's race. Coleman finished fifth overall with a time of 21:57 in the four mile.

'I was extremely pleased with our effort today, especially considering the conditions,' said Rodney Rothoff, OU's head cross country coach. 'The women's team followed the race plan very well and had a good team effort. Jason and Stuart (Lisle) gave a very good effort for us. It was great to get our freshmen into a competitive experience with challenging weather conditions. They were literally running through mud and water up to their knees. They kept pushing and working the plan. I think that's a good sign for the future and hopefully this is the start of a lot of success for these young runners and our program.'

Eldridge, a true freshman from Broken Arrow, finished the course with a time of 12:56 while Bonner, who graduated from Jenks High School last spring, covered the course in 13:13. Cook, from Flower Mound, Texas, finished the two miles in 13:23.

Junior Jackie Dubois was 22nd with a 14:23 followed by senior Amanda Luksetich, who was 26th at 15:05. Emily Leonard finished with a 16:27.

Lisle, a redshirt freshman from Edmond, finished eighth with a 22:12 and senior Jimmy Buchanan was ninth with a 22:13. Tyler Schmiedeberg, another freshman from Edmond, was 13th with a 22:25 and Andrew Tower, who is from Edmond and graduate from Casady last spring, was 14th with a 22:26.

Norman junior Andrew Call finished 16th with a 22:38 followed by senior Trevor Gillum who finished 19th with a 23:32. Rounding out the Sooner finishes was freshman Salah Hussein with a 23:50 and sophomore Billy Grona with a 24:01. Another pair of Sooner freshman, Jason Penland and Kevin Miller, competed unattached. Penland's time was 22:35 and Miller finished in 22:53.

Rothoff held out several of the men on the Sooner roster, giving the freshmen an opportunity to break into collegiate competition. OU will return to competition in two weeks, traveling to the North Texas Invitational in Denton, Texas, on Sept. 13.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Women Win Hurricane CC Festival Title

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