Men Second, Women Fifth at Virginia

NORMAN - Brandon Doughty opened his senior season with a third place finish that led the Oklahoma men to place second at the Virginia Panorama Farms Invitational Saturday. The Sooner men took five top-25 spots to finish behind the ninth-ranked host Cavaliers.

Sooner men run the 8,000-meter race at the Panorama Farms Invitational in Charlottesville, Va.

Doughty (23:56.9) headed into the 8,000-meter race as the lone Sooner to have competed previously on the course, making the run in 2012. He finished well ahead of his 39th-place (25:41.0) result three years ago.

"Brandon competed well and we expected him to finish at the front, but it was also nice to see that Jacob (Burcham) finished just behind him," said Jason Dunn, associate head coach for cross country.

Runners to Watch
Brandon Doughty // RSr. After finishing as a first team All-American in track in 2015, Doughty is setting pace to have a standout season in his final year with the Sooners. His third-place finish in the season debut at the Virginia Panorama Farms Invitational led the Sooner men to a second place team finish. The Charles Town, W. Va. native, has been the front runner for the Sooners for some time. Since his freshman year, Doughty has dedicated the offseason to high-altitude training, a unique training style used by Olympic athletes.
Jacob Burcham // Jr. Another Sooner to watch is Burcham an upperclassman that has racked up enough experience to hold a top spot for the Sooners. His fourth place finish at the Panorama Farms Invitational is a respectable start in a field with nationally-ranked competitors. Burcham has placed top-50 in the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships his first two seasons with OU and the coaches believe he is on pace for national qualification this season.
Brittany Tretbar // Jr. Tretbar led the women's team to a top-five team finish at the Panorama Farms Invitational. Her eighth-place finish to open her junior season was the top for the Sooner women against a competitive field. Tretbar transferred to OU from Wingate University during her freshman year. She has contiually improved and earned all-regional honors last season. The Sooner women will look to her to continue to lead the pack as the season progresses and becomes more competitive.

The Sooner men outpaced 13 teams including No. 18 Furman and No. 20 Eastern Kentucky. It was also the season opener for Burcham, who finished fourth (23:59.2), Eric Alldritt who finished 13th (24:19.8) and Dylan Blankenbaker who placed 18th (17th in team scoring/24:23.9). Will Hogston placed 22nd (21st in team scoring/24:28.7) to round out the counted scorers for the Sooners.

"I thought our men did a really nice job," Dunn said. "It was a first race for a lot of the guys. It wasn't an easy course or easy meet to have our guys open their season, but I thought they competed well."

Other entries for the Sooner men were Zac Randall who placed 29th/27th (24:45.9), Liam Meirow 39th/36th (25:01.1), Brendan Taylor 55th (25:22.2), and Alonzo Chavez 68th (25:42.9).

Led by junior Brittany Tretbar, who took eighth with a time of 17:12.3 in her season debut, OU finished behind No. 16 Virginia, Mississippi State, Auburn and Yale in the 5,000-meter competition.

"Brittany did a good job today. I thought she competed well," Dunn said. "It was a very competitive field for the women's teams. We still are not at full strength so with a pretty young and still relatively inexperienced team, a fifth place finish was solid."

In the program's first appearance at the Panorama Farms event, Sarah Scott finished 25th (17:51.5), Belle Wallace 30th (18:03.9), Abbey Mace 60th (55th in team scoring/18:50.2) and freshman Grace Barber 67th (62nd in team scoring/19:02.8) to close out the counted scorers. Hayley Redwine (19:34.3) also competed for the Sooners.

A special meet for OU, the Sooners prepared so they could make a statement on behalf their coach. Dunn coached at Virginia and established the course at Panorama Farms during his eight-year stint with the Cavaliers.

Brittany Tretbar pushing ahead in the 5,000-meter race at the Panorama Farms Invitational hosted by Virginia.

"[The Cavaliers] are our competitors now, now that I'm coaching somewhere else," Dunn said. "I like knowing that a lot of the work I did years ago may have helped position their program for success.

"I had talked to Brandon about it a little bit and I think he was excited," he continued. "He certainly did a lot better. It was great to be back; it's nostalgic but I was mostly concerned with how they did and so it's nice I can feel good about their performance as well."

Oklahoma Coach Jason Dunn stands in front of the Panorama Farms course that he established during his coaching tenure at Virginia.

The Sooner men and women will compete in different meets the next time out. OU men will head to Madison, Wis. for the Wisconsin adidas Invitational on Oct. 16 while the women head to Louisville, Ky. for the Pre-Nationals Invitational on Oct. 17.

For information on OU cross country, check out SoonerSports.com.

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Players Mentioned

Eric Alldritt

Eric Alldritt

Grace Barber

Dylan Blankenbaker

Dylan Blankenbaker

Jacob Burcham

Alonzo Chavez

Brandon Doughty

Will Hogston

Abbey Mace

Liam Meirow

Zac Randall

Hayley Redwine

Sarah Scott

Brendan Taylor

Brittany Tretbar

Brittany Tretbar

Belle Wallace

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