Jessica Eldridge an All-American

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. Jessica Eldridge became just the sixth Sooner woman to earn All-America honors in cross country with her 18th-place finish at the NCAA National Championships Monday afternoon.

Eldridge paced the 6,000-meter LaVern Gibson Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in 21 minutes, 13 seconds.

“Crossing the finish line, I felt very good and very tired,” Eldridge said. “It didn't really sink in until later. My mom was crying; she was so excited. I'm very happy and very excited to finally be an All-American.”

Women's Results | Men's Results

The Broken Arrow, Okla., native put together a strong race to accomplish what no OU student-athlete has done in 12 years.

“I started out in about 50th or 60th and just moved through the field slowly between the one- and two-mile marks. It was a pretty consistent race.”

Sally Kipyego of Texas Tech was the women's champion, finishing in 20:12. Josh Rohatinsky of BYU was the men's champion, winning the men's 10,000-meter race in 30:45.

The Stanford women and Colorado men are the 2006 national champions.

Eldridge's result is the best by a Sooner at the national championships since Alice Braham finished sixth in 1994. Eldridge had raced twice previously in the NCAA Championships, finishing 180th in 2003 and 80th in 2004.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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