Sooner Sophomores Leading a Young Squad

Brittany Tretbar
Event	Time	Place
Hurricane XC Festival - 2 mile	11:13	Second
Missouri Southern Inv. - 5K	17:05.83	Fourth
Washington XC Invite -6K	20:54	18th
Wisconsin adidas Inv. "B" - 6K	20:54	First

Elena Arriaza
Event	Time	Place
Hurricane XC Festival - 2 mile	11:14	Fourth
Missouri Southern Inv. - 5K	17:07.27	Fifth
Washington XC Invite - 6K	21:15	41st
Wisconsin adidas Inv. "B" - 6K	21:15	Ninth

NORMAN -- When most people think of a leader, a junior or senior with years of experience comes to mind. However, on the Oklahoma women's cross country squad sophomores Elena Arriaza and Brittany Tretbar have taken the helm.

It is not like they are leading over upperclassmen. There are none on the Sooners' 2014 roster, heading into Saturday's Big 12 Championships in Lawrence, Kan.

“Technically we're sophomores,” Tretbar said. “We have to act like upperclassmen for these freshmen. I think we just didn't really care about how old we are, what year we are. We just decided we wanted to be good and this is what we needed to do.”

Leading a young team is a test in and of itself. As the championship meet approaches, the sophomore duo will face a new test, but their record proves that the sophomores have what it takes to lead the team.

In all of the races leading up to this weekend's race, Arriaza and Tretbar have consistently had the times and finishes to establish themselves as leaders.

From the Hurricane Cross Country Festival to the Wisconsin adidas Invitational, Tretbar and Arriaza have been the top finishers for the team, placing first and second for the Sooners in every race, respectively.

These consistent finishes have not only been a way to show their leadership to the rest of the team, but also it has allowed them to lead each other and light the fire in Arriazza.

“I think it's great that we're able to run together and it definitely helps because I don't think I would run the times I have without Brittany,” Arriaza said. “Each time we're getting closer and closer, so hopefully we can have a race where we come in together. I want to chase her, to get a better finish.”

“Brittany sometimes likes to refer to herself as the alpha and proclaims that sometimes,” Associate Head Coach Jason Dunn said. “It's good to see. They both have a good sense of confidence about them and I think that's something people really look up to.”

Both have seen significant improvement in their times compared to last year, but they have taken very different paths to earn their leading roles.

While Arriaza has spent her whole collegiate running career at Oklahoma, Dunn jokingly says that he “inherited” her because she was recruited by the previous coaching staff.

This year, Arriaza ran the Hurricane Cross Country Festival in 11:14, 17 seconds fast than last year. At the Missouri Southern Stampede, she ran the 5K race in 17:07, which is 53 seconds faster than in 2013.

While Arriaza is in her second cross country season at OU, Tretbar is just getting started. Last fall, she was running for Wingate University where she says she made huge strides from her high school times.

“Brittany sometimes likes to refer to herself as the alpha and proclaims that sometimes. It's good to see. They both have a good sense of confidence about them and I think that's something people really look up to.”
Jason Dunn, associate head coach

“I went to Wingate wanting to break through my high school times because I wasn't really the fastest coming out of high school and I was looking at OU originally,” Tretbar said. “Wingate gave me an opportunity to jump right in and be a part of a team.”

At Wingate, Tretbar took away experiences that are now contributing to her leadership, especially in the light of the upcoming postseason. While there, she was able to go as far as competing in the 2013 Division II NCAA Championship race where she finished 123^rd with a time of 22:47.

“I definitely wasn't prepared going into [the national championship] because it was a shock. Now that I know the experience, it's like a conference meet,” Tretbar said.

“It's like [the Big 12 Championship] is no big deal. It's just like any race and we don't have to make it bigger than it is. My team can just do what we do and just run together.”

Since Tretbar did not transfer to Oklahoma until the spring semester, she had a different competition slate. Still, she has seen similar results to Arriaza. Her times for 5Ks have improved almost two minutes. Last year she won the Bulldog Stampede with a time of 18:59, and this year she came in fourth at the Missouri Southern Stampede with a time just over 17 minutes.

“There's so much room for improvement,” Dunn said. “Even with as much progress as both those ladies have made since they got here, the progress they're going to make in the next couple of years will be even more significant.”

As they lace up their running shoes for the Big 12 Championship race, Arriaza and Tretbar hope to continue to improve as student-athletes and better the women's cross country program in the process. At the meet, they hope to lead the Sooners to an all-time best Big 12 finish and that would mean finishing no lower than fifth. The Sooners were sixth in 2007 and the best finish since then was eighth.

With a pair of sophomores leading the team and the continued improvement they have shown, improving finishes are bound to follow for the team.

By: Candace Hinnergardt, OU Athletics Communications intern