XC Finishes Program Best Fifth at NCAA Championship

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The No. 6 University of Oklahoma men's cross country team finished a program best fifth at the 2010 NCAA Championships Monday in Terre Haute, Ind., on the LaVern Gibson Championship Course. Oklahoma recorded its highest finish as a program at the NCAA Championships with 281 points.

Complete Team & Individual Results

The Sooners ran a consistent race on the 10,000 meter course and was as high as third after 2,000-meters. In route to the top finish OU finished ahead of two higher-ranked teams in No. 3 Oregon, who placed sixth, and No. 5 New Mexico, who placed 16th. Oklahoma's finish was second among Big 12 teams only behind national champion Oklahoma State. OU's previous best finish was ninth at the 1946 NCAA National Championships.

Kevin Schwab finished 23rd with a time of 30:19.1 to pace the Sooners and claim All-America honors. Schwab earned OU's fifth All-America honors and is the first to do so since Conor Holt in 1995. Schwab led OU the entire race and was as high as 20th at the 5,000-meter mark.

Bill Kogel was the next Sooner to cross the finish line with a time of 30:38.7 finishing 54th. Kogel's time was 20 seconds faster than his time at the 2009 NCAA Championships. Rob Sorrell followed with a time of 30:56.4 to finish 77th, George Alex crossed the line at 30:57.6 in 81st and Kevin Williams ran a time of 31:09.5 to finish 84th and close out scoring for Oklahoma. Aaron Sherf also competed for OU finishing with a time of 31:18.5, finishing 115th.

Oklahoma's runners finished among the top 17 of Big 12 athletes. Schwab and Kogel were the fourth and ninth runners to cross the finish line from the Big 12 with Sorrell following close behind at 12th, Alex at 13th , Williams at 15th and Sherf at 17th.

"I think the guys and I were extremely pleased with their effort," said head coach Martin Smith. "Being able to accomplish a fifth-place finish is a very wonderful accomplishment. It is a tribute to how they and the program have taken steps forward. I thought it was a really positive step for the guys today."

Five of Monday's six runners for OU return for the 2011 season as Sorrell is the lone senior for the group.

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Quotes from head coach Martin Smith:
On expectations going into the race:
"We didn't really go into the meet trying to pinpoint a specific place. It's extremely difficult in a meet of this size to know where you are with the competition. We had worked on trying to develop a very disciplined race plan that if they were able to execute it and come back off the regional effort we thought that could put them in a position to have a really strong overall team performance. Obviously they did. That was our mindset as they approached the meet from a tactical perspective."

On All-American Kevin Schwab:
"That was a real important breakthrough for Kevin (Schwab) to make first team All-America. He is in pretty select company being in the top 25 in the country. I think that will really give Kevin a lot of confidence in that he can be competitive at a very high level at the cross country nationals. The other thing I thought it did was that it capped for Kevin a complete year. He had a very strong regional performance and he was able to come back and duplicate that kind of performance at the national meet. Also I think it is very helpful for the other guys on the team to know that Kevin has made that breakthrough to be an individual All-American, and it is something that they are capable of doing. It changes the way everyone thinks when one of your teammates breaks through that barrier."

On the season:
"The program has come a very long way in a relatively short period of time and it's broken in at a level that you hadn't seen a school like Oklahoma before. They've come a long way. Finishing top five in the country I think begins to demonstrate that this is hopefully going to be a program with a long-term future at the very high level of NCAA cross country. I think it also shows that last year's 12th-place finish was not an accident and that it was part of the building process. It will have a tremendous positive effect on recruiting and creating interest in the program. Most importantly, it is a reward for the guys who have done all the hard work, especially for a guy like Rob Sorrell who has been the captain and pioneer to change the landscape of Oklahoma cross country. It's been a work in progress, it's not over but it's surely been an exciting journey so far."

On Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletic Programs and Athletics Director Joe Castiglione attending the NCAA National Championships:
"It was a really nice touch that Joe Castiglione flew out this morning to attend the meet. It was really exciting for all the guys, and their parents and all of us in the program for him to come out here. He seemed to really enjoy it and he got a lot of good exercise he said. That was a really special opportunity for the guys and it meant a lot to them to have our athletics director out here. We just wanted to thank him and let him know how much we appreciated it."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

XC Finishes Program Best Fifth at NCAA Championship

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