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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Sooners to Race in Big 12 Championships
October 31, 2014 | Cross Country
NORMAN – The University of Oklahoma cross country teams have left for Lawrence, Kan., to compete in the Big 12 Championships at Rim Rock Farm on Saturday.
“There is no question we have made progress physically and we are in great shape as a group heading into the race,” said associate head coach Jason Dunn. “We are just looking forward to showing the progress we've made by racing well on Saturday.”
Ranked 26th in the nation and third in the region according to the latest United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association ranking, the Oklahoma men will compete in the 8,000-meter race, which is slated to start at 11 a.m.
Two additional ranked teams from the conference will race alongside Oklahoma in that race including No. 4 Oklahoma State and No. 29 Texas.“We certainly want to end up in the top two and hopefully challenge Oklahoma State for the win,” said Dunn. “They've got a great team and we would like to have a good battle with them.”
Representing OU will be Eric Alldritt, Jacob Burcham, Alex Deir, Brandon Doughty, Eric Graf, William Hogston, Kyle Polman, Zach Randall Abbabiya Simbassa.
The race will be Doughty's third appearance in the Championships. He finished 26th in 2012 and earned All-Big 12 honors with his ninth place finish a year ago.
Simbassa, the 2013 Big 12 Newcomer of the year, finished eighth a year ago and earned All-Big 12 honors. He will be joined by four other Sooners making their second appearances in the race including Graf, Polman, Deir, and Burcham. After recovering from an injury, this race marks the first of the season for Randall.
After a fourth-place team finish last year, Dunn anticipates the experienced men's lineup to take them even higher this year.
“Having had one under their belts already should certainly prepare them better this time out,” said Dunn.
The Oklahoma women will compete in the 6,000-meter race at 10 a.m., which features two nationally ranked teams – No. 21 Oklahoma State and No. 28 Baylor.
Competing for the Sooner women are Elena Arriaza, Sophia Fernald, Lauren Gibbs, Abbey Mace, Kelsey McKee, Jordan Norris, Bryce Perry, Sarah Scott, Brittany Tretbar and Belle Wallace. Fernald, Gibbs, Mace, Norris, Scott and Wallace are all freshmen whie Arriaza, McKee, Perry and Tretbar are sophomores. Tretbar, though, is a transfer and this will mark her first competition in the Big 12 meet.
The race will mark a second appearance in the meet for Arriaza, McKee and Perry, after finishing 30th, 49th and 77th, respectively, in the 2013 race. A pre-race goal for the Sooners is to improve on the ninth-place finish from a year ago, perhaps an all-time best finish for the OU women in the Big 12 meet.
“The women are still very young team, but some of them have gained experience in the races we have taken them to this year,” said Dunn. “In training, we can see that there has been huge progress so it's now time to carry that progress over to a good race.”
At the conclusion of Saturday's race, the top men's and women's teams will be crowned Big 12 champions, while the top 15 individuals in each race earn All-Big 12 honors. The top newcomer in each race will earn Newcomer of the Year accolades.
Information on the meet is available at big12atrimrock.com and big12sports.com. Complete results and a full recap of the race will be available on SoonerSports.com shortly after racing is over.
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