Completed Event: Cross Country at Cowboy Preview on August 29, 2025 , , 2nd - M/3rd - W
Final
Cross Country
at Cowboy Preview
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Friday, November 13
Lawrence, Kan.
9:00 AM
University of Oklahoma
at
NCAA Midwest Regionals
OU/XC Men Earn 3rd, Women 7th at Regional
November 13, 2015 | Cross Country
LAWRENCE, Kan. - In a performance that came down to the final stretch, junior Jacob Burcham and redshirt senior Brandon Doughty earned automatic bids to the NCAA Cross Country Championship after finishing second (29:38.6) and fourth (29:52.7), respectively, at the NCAA Midwest Regional Cross Country Championships in Lawrence, Friday.
Now they have to wait to see if they will be competing as individuals or if the rest of the team will join them.
The duo finished ahead of 192 runners to lead the Sooners to a 104-point, third-place team finish. OU was nine points short of a top-two finish that would have automatically qualified the team for nationals on Nov. 21 in Louisville.
The No. 26 Oklahoma men, who have been ranked in the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Associations Top-30 poll throughout the season, have a chance to be an at-large entry to the NCAA. The official announcement for all national entries will be on Saturday at 2 p.m. OU finished behind No. 6 Oklahoma State, who swept the meet, and No. 26 Minnesota.
Burcham has been the top finisher for the Sooners in the last three meets. His performance on Friday was a significant jump from his 2014 result where he finished 48th overall with a time of 30:59.4.
"Jacob and the leaps he's had this season are pretty incredible," said Jason Dunn, associate head coach for cross country. "Jacob is just at a totally different level than he was and ran great out front for us."
In his NCAA Midwest Region Cross Country Championship debut, Dylan Blankenbaker earned All-Midwest Region honors after finishing 25th.
Junior Dylan Blankenbaker joined Burcham and Doughty on the all-region list after he placed 25th with a time of 30:40.1 in his regional debut. Matt Brafford finished 30th with a time of 30:53.0 and Eric Alldritt ran a 31:15.5 to finish 44th/43rd and round out the scoring for the Sooner men.
"Jacob and Brandon did just an awesome job up front and put themselves in the mix," Dunn said. "Brandon has obviously been at the [2012 cross country] national meet and he's an All-American [in the 3,000-meter steeplechase] several times over, so it's great to see him progressing. The men are in a good position."
Other Sooner entries were Will Hogston (67th, 31:37.5) and Liam Meirow (96th, 32:01.2). Hogston also improved from last season when he finished 114th.
"We just have to wait to see how things are going to sort out [with the at-large qualifications for nationals]," Dunn said. "We've put ourselves in a good position. I would've liked to have gotten second [at least] so we'd know for sure. That's disappointing but hopefully we still make it in."
The women's performance improved to seventh, up two spots from their ninth place finish in 2014. It is the best regional finish for the Sooner women since at least 2007. The women finished behind Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Minnesota, Tulsa, Kansas, and Bradley.
"We're pleased to move up from where we were last year," Dunn said. "I still feel like we didn't race up to our ability yet. I think we could've been a couple of spots higher on a better day. In context of where we started a couple of years ago, we're continuing to make progress. It's never as quickly as I would like, but we're getting better."
The front runner for the Sooner women was Brittany Tretbar, who earned her second all-regional honor after placing 10th with a time of 20:35.4. She moved up from her 19th-place finish a year ago when she ran a time of 20:45.7.
Brittany Tretbar earned All-Midwest Region honors after finishing 10th at the NCAA Midwest Region Cross Country Championships.
"She's getting better and moving in the right direction for sure, but it's the same kind of thing [with the entire women's team]," Dunn said. "She was a bit short of what we were hoping for. I really, really thought that she'd be at nationals as an individual, but she came up just a little bit short."
Belle Wallace also made a noteworthy improvement fiinishing 46th (21:29.8) after placing 91st (21:38.0) last season. Elena Arriaza finished just ahead of Wallace in 45th (21:29.7). The remaining scorers for the women were Sarah Scott (89th/88th, 22:01.3) and Abbey Mace (94th/93rd, 22:04.1).
The remaining Sooner competitors were Bryce Perry (129th, 22:28.5) and Grace Barber (132nd, 22:32.6).
While the women's season ended earlier than they hoped it would, the program continues to develop.
"As we look at it now, we probably are one year away from being a legitimate team that can get to nationals," Dunn said. "I hope that we leave here with a sense of purpose. It's time to really get going and that's where I think they're at. We have to keep getting better."
For more information on the OU cross country team check out SoonerSports.com.
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