OU Heads to Big 12 Championship

Oct. 25, 2007

NORMAN, Okla. - The University of Oklahoma cross country team heads to Rawls Golf Course in Lubbock, Texas this Friday for the 2007 Big 12 Cross Country Championship.

The Big 12 Championship begins with the men's 8,000-meter race at 10 a.m. followed by the women's 6,000-meter run at 11 a.m. Saturday's race will mark the first time in conference history that Texas Tech has hosted the event.

The Oklahoma men enter the event riding momentum from a second-place finish in the Penn State National Invitational.

Three Sooners recorded top-10 finishes in the event as Jon Grey (fourth), Rob Sorrell (eighth) and Kevin Schwab (ninth) all finished within 18 seconds of the race leader. Individually the Sooner men have been led by Grey and Sorrell throughout the season.

Sorrell was named the Big 12 Runner of the Week on Sept. 4 after defending his title in the Golden Hurricane Invitational. He and Grey have been the team's top-two runners this season as Grey has lead the team in both the Roy Griak Invitational (35th) and the Penn State National Invitational (fourth).

The team's lone freshman and only native Oklahoman, Schwab, continues to improve throughout the season, culminating in the ninth-place finish in the field of 222 at the Penn State National Invitational.

Junior college transfer Tony Clement, who is the team's sole representation of the upper-classmen demographic, finished second in his first event as a Sooner, the Golden Hurricane Invitational. The remainder of the Oklahoma team is comprised of a trio of sophomores in Jacob Boone, Matt Grey and Chris Sweeney.

The Oklahoma women finished 12th in the final event of the regular season as senior Jessica Eldridge led the way with an eleventh-place finish in the 6,000-meter race. Eldridge, who will look to add her fourth all-conference honor after finishing fourth in last year's championship, teams with classmate Catherine Odell to bring much-needed leadership to the remainder of the team that includes four freshmen and one sophomore.

Eldridge and Odell opened the season by finishing one-two in the Golden Hurricane Festival. Promising freshman Jessica Engel of Sturgis, S.D., finished third in the event. Odell also led all Oklahoma runners in the Roy Griak Invitational, finishing 31st.

The remainder of the Oklahoma women's team consists of sophomore Lauren Watson and freshmen Christina Ferber, Chelsea Jones and Kelly Waters.

Colorado has dominated the Big 12 cross country scene the past 11 seasons. The men have won every title while the women have won 10 of the 11 championships with Kansas State claiming the crown in 1998.

Complete results and a full recap of the Big 12 Championships will be available on SoonerSports.com shortly following the events conclusion.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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