Oklahoma XC Heads to Virginia

NORMAN - The University of Oklahoma cross country teams will head east this weekend to compete in the Panorama Farms Invitational hosted by the University of Virginia on Saturday. It will be a return home of sorts for associate head coach Jason Dunn, who coached in Charlottesville for eight years and established the well-known course in 2001.

The Sooner men have had some success on the course after winning the invite in 2012, a year before Dunn's arrival in Norman. Redshirt senior Brandon Doughty, a member of the 2012 squad, will be the lone Sooner competing to have previously run the course. He placed 39th as a redshirt freshman with a time of 25:41.0. After finishing the 2014 season as a member of the Midwest All-Region team, Doughty is expected to go further this year.

"It will be nice to have Brandon there and I'm sure he'll be in a lot better place than he was a couple of years ago," Dunn said. "I was talking to him about running quite a bit faster than his first time there.

"I'm excited for him to get started on the season and excited to have pretty much our whole men's group racing," he added.

This will be the first meet of the season for Doughty and teammates Jacob Burcham, Eric Alldritt, and Dylan Blankenbaker. It will also be junior transfer Alonzo Chavez's debut as a Sooner.

"I believe this team definitely has the most depth since I've been here," said Dunn, who is in his third season with the Sooners. "We're pretty solid through a number of spots. I'm curious to see how we do this weekend. It'll be a chance to see where we're at against good competition."

Other Sooner entries for the men are Zac Randall, Will Hogston, Liam Meirow, and Brendan Taylor.

It will be the first time for the OU women's team to make an appearance at the Virginia meet. The Sooners will race seven entries including junior Brittany Tretbar who was also an all-region selection last season. It will be the season-opening race for Tretbar and Belle Wallace.

Freshman Morgan Long will have her collegiate debut as well on Saturday. Grace Barber, Hayley Redwine, Sarah Scott and Abbey Mace will round it out for the women's entries.

"We're not quite at full force on the women's side yet, but I'm excited to see what they can do," Dunn said. "It's the first time we've lined up some of these women.

"I'm definitely excited about Brittany and, from an individual standpoint, I hope that she will be competing at the front of the race," he continued. "The women's team has improved over the last couple of years so it will be fun to see."

The men's Division I 8,000-meter race is scheduled for a 9 a.m. (CDT) start and the women's Division I 5,000-meter race is slated for 9:45 a.m. Results will be available at FlashResults.com with a full Sooner recap on SoonerSports.com.

Players Mentioned

Eric Alldritt

Grace Barber

Dylan Blankenbaker

Jacob Burcham

Jacob Burcham

Alonzo Chavez

Brandon Doughty

Will Hogston

Morgan Long

Abbey Mace

Liam Meirow

Liam Meirow

Zac Randall

Hayley Redwine

Sarah Scott

Brendan Taylor

Brendan Taylor

Brittany Tretbar

Brittany Tretbar

Belle Wallace

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