Completed Event: Cross Country at Cowboy Preview on August 29, 2025 , , 2nd - M/3rd - W
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Cross Country
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University of Oklahoma Athletics
OUXC Men Earn At-Large Bid to National Meet
November 14, 2015 | Cross Country
NORMAN - The University of Oklahoma men's cross country team will head to the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Louisville Saturday, Nov. 21, after being selected as one of 13 at-large teams. The announcement of the complete field was made Saturday by the NCAA Cross Country/Track and Field Committee.
This is the first time the Sooners have sent a team to the national championship since 2012.
The Sooner men headed into the postseason ranked No. 26 in the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Top 30. OU finished third as a team Friday at the NCAA Midwest Region Championships in Lawrence, Kan., after placing sixth last year.
OU was led at the regional meet by junior Jacob Burcham, who finished second overall with a time of 29:38.6. A year ago, Burcham finished 48th (30:59.4) in the regional meet.
The Sooners finished second as a team at the Big 12 Championship on Oct. 31, again behind Burcham's runner-up finish.
This will be the first time the team has qualified for the national meet under associate head coach Jason Dunn, who took over the cross country program in 2013. Since then, Dunn's runners have shown consistent improvement in times and finishes.
"We're just really excited about our guys making to nationals," Dunn said. "We've had that goal all season and have been working towards it. After coming up short last year we really wanted to get back to it.
"Having some low finishers, low-sticks as we call them, like Jacob Burcham and Brandon Doughty - those type of guys- they'll really help you do well in a large field," he continued. "If we have a solid supporting cast with our 3-4-5 runners I think we can do pretty well."
Redshirt senior Brandon Doughty has excelled under Dunn's tutelage. Doughty, who has been a leader for the Sooners in both cross country and track and field as a two-time All-American in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, is the lone Sooner runner to return to the national cross country stage. He recorded a time of 31:18.5 en route to a 170th place finish at the NCAA Championships in 2012. That meet also was in Louisville.
Doughty finished fourth (29:52.7) at Friday's regional meet after placing ninth (30:18.7) a year earlier. Doughty also was fourth overall at the conference meet, the best Big 12 finish of his career.
Other scorers for OU at the regional included Dylan Blankenbaker, who earned All-Midwest Region honors after finishing 25th (30:40.1); Matt Brafford, who finished 30th (30:53.0); and Eric Alldritt, who was the final scorer at 45th/44th (31:15.5).
Other runners who competed for OU at regionals were Will Hogston (67th, 31:37.5) and Liam Meirow (96th, 32:01.2).
The NCAA Championships for the men are scheduled for noon (CT) with a live webcast on NCAA.com.
Players Mentioned
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