2016 Cross Country Season Recap

December 13, 2016 | Cross Country

By: Allison Weiss

The cross country season seems to have gone by in a flash, but not without some moments to remember. Kevin Ondrasek was in his first year leading the program and he had to find the balance of introducing his philosophy while getting to know the runners and what worked best for them.

Early on, OU's entries were primarily freshmen and sophomores, providing opportunities for the coach to see the state of the program in real race situations. It also gave him the ability to learn who could be counted on. As the season progressed and the lineups became more consistent, it was about building stamina and developing strategies that would allow the men and the women to have individual and collective success.

The women relied on veteran runners like Brittany Tretbar, Belle Wallace, Sarah Scott and Elena Arriaza. Still, the results of underclassmen Isabella Rose and true freshman Ashley Johnson showed promise of a program on the rise. On the men's side, there was a solid nucleus of freshmen and sophomores who found their footing under the guidance of veterans Dylan Blankenbaker and Eric Alldritt. With five seniors in 2016, it will fall on the leadership of Liam Meirow and Brendan Taylor moving forward.

The later part of the season produced well-deserved individual accolades. Tretbar and Blankenbaker claimed spots on the All-Big 12 team and Blankenbaker and Alldritt earned All-Region with their performances at the Midwest Regional. Blankenbaker's efforts resulted in a spot at the NCAA Cross Country Championship, in which he finished his OU cross country career with a misfortune-filled 31:45.0.

OSU Cowboy Duals – Thursday, Sept. 1, Stillwater

The men and women opened the season in Stillwater for the Cowboy Duals where they faced Arkansas, Tulsa, Oral Roberts, Wichita State and Oklahoma State. Both teams took second at the event with the men finishing behind Oklahoma State and the women falling one point short to Arkansas.

Brittany Tretbar was the top Oklahoma finisher of the day, finishing as the runner-up in the women's 3K with a time of 10:38.5. The women had a strong collective performance with five runners finishing in the top 10, including Hayley Redwine (fifth, 10:44.6), Sarah Scott (sixth, 10:46.7), Isabella Rose (ninth, 10:48.6) and Belle Wallace (10th, 10:50.8). Rounding out the group in her first collegiate race was Ashley Johnson, who placed 25^thoverall at 11:15.8.

On the men's side, Eric Alldritt led the way in the 5K race with a fourth-place finish in 15:51.9. Alonzo Chavez (15:58.8) and Liam Meirow (15:59.3) followed him in fifth and sixth place, respectively. Dylan Blankenbaker recorded an 11^th-place finish (16:09.8) and Brendan Taylor was 13^th with a 16:18.4. Three true freshmen ran their first race as well on the men's side. Nic Butts was 14^th with a time of 16:21.2, Ean Beyer finished with a time of 16:33.8 to place 20^th and Heath Warren ended up in 24^th with 16:56.5.

Associate Coach Kevin Ondrasek: “[The race] was more about working together as a team. I feel like we just have to practice that. It is an individual sport that is won as a team. A lot of times, individuals need to practice working together versus going out on their own.”

Ken Garland Invitational – Saturday, Sept. 17, Denton, Texas

The next race found the Sooners in Denton, Texas, for the Ken Garland Invitational. Oklahoma competed against UT-Arlington, Abilene Christian, Letourneau, Texas Wesleyan, Wiley College, North Texas, TCU and Baylor. The intention was to give the younger runners a chance to race while allowing the injured runners to work their way back to racing close to full distance.

The women finished in third place with Johnson being the first female Sooner to cross the line, navigating the Eagle Point Cross Country Course in 18:38.9. That time was good enough for seventh in the women's 5K race and second in team scoring. She was followed by Morgan Long, who came in at 19:18.4 (18th overall, 13th in team scoring); Madison Heidenburg at 19:27.2 (21st, 16th); Sophia Fernald in 19:55.6 (30th, 24th); Lauren Gibbs with a time of 20:03.2 (34th, 27th); Lane Maguire in 20:28.9 (43rd, 34th); Olivia Taylor at 20:31.9 and Morgan Baulier with a time of 20:59.3.

Zach Gentry ended the men's four-mile race in 13th place with a time of 20:43.9 in his debut race of the season to lead the men. Butts ran a time of 20:58.9, putting him in 21st place and 20th in team scoring. Following him were Warren at 21:26.4 (29th overall, 27th in team scoring) and Beyer with 21:48.5 (34th, 30th). Christopher Staub rounded out the Sooner men's scoring in 35th place overall (31st in team scoring) with a time of 22:01.4. The men finished fourth.

Ondrasek: “We learned a lot about ourselves. We learned a lot about what we consider to be team running or not team running. I think they are learning the expectation of any time they put on an OU jersey, what that means. We can definitely use [today's race and outcomes]. Not all races are positive experiences - sometimes you learn more from losing than you do from winning and I think that was a little bit of what we had this weekend.”

Roy Griak Invitational – Saturday, Sept. 24, Minneapolis, Minn.

Going up against some of the toughest teams in the country, the men placed 16^th and the women's team 20^th at the Roy Griak Invitational on the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights, Minn.

The men were paced by Meirow (49^th overall, 48^th in team scoring at 25:58). Alldritt finished 51^st (49^thin team scoring) with a 26:00 and Blankenbaker was 62^nd (60^thin team scoring) with a 26:08. Taylor finished 127^thout of the 275 runners who competed in the 8K (111^th in team scoring) with a time of 26:51. Butts covered the course in 27:43 and Warren recorded a 28:57. At 29:41, Gentry was the final Sooner to cross the finish line.

The women were paced in the 6K by Tretbar (76^th place with a time of 23:12). Rose placed 88^th at 23:18, Scott finished (100^thoverall, 99^thin team scoring) with a 23:26 and Johnson finished in 23:46. Wallace was 160^th overall (147^th in team scoring) at 24:02. Arriaza rounded out the OU results with a time of 24:30.

Ondrasek: “Liam Meirow obviously had a big race today. It was easily his best race in an OU jersey. He executed perfectly. He did exactly what we asked of him. He led the second charge and he led the second charge so well that he actually ended up being our number one runner. Dylan ran like a crafty veteran. He found himself in the right spot in the race. He overextended himself just a little bit, but was able to hang on. He just ran a very tough, gritty race.”

Pre-National Invitational – Saturday, Oct. 15, Terre Haute, Ind.

The men finished 17^th and the women 22^nd while competing in the elite Blue Race in the Pre-National Invitational at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. The objective was to improve their regional rankings while giving the Sooners a chance to preview the NCAA Championship course.

Blakenbaker finished in 34th place with a time of 24:36.9 in the men's 8K. Following in 50th was Alldritt with a 24:52.7. Coming in at 25:10.8 and 86th was Meirow. After Meirow, there was a large gap between finishers as Taylor and Gentry crossed the line at 25:38.5 and 25:53.8, respectively. Rounding out the finishers for the Sooner men were Butts at 26:13 and Chavez at 26:32.

Tretbar finished 83rd with a time of 21:18.9. Following her at 21:34.5 and 110th was Rose. Scott (21:47.5), Wallace (21:47.9) and Arriaza (21:48.7) all finished within seconds of each other. Finishing at 22:08.8 was Johnson and the last Sooner woman to finish the 6K race, Redwine, crossed the line at 22:30.2.

Ondrasek: “The men set up the race right and broke apart about halfway through. We made a lot of leeway in race intensity as far as how hard they hit it. As far as where they finished, it's still not quite where they could be. We had a major improvement with the women as far as their competitiveness in a high-stakes situation. It was a high quality field. The women saw a faster pace in the first mile than they had all year, so I think that is something they'll have to get used to. But they set it up great and we got what we needed out of it."

Big 12 Championship – Saturday, Oct. 29, Lubbock, Texas

History was made at the Big 12 Championship held in Lubbock, Texas, as the women recorded the highest conference finish in program history with their fourth-place team finish. Their 124 team points were also a 28-point improvement over last year when they placed fifth as a team with 152 points. The race marked a turning point for the women, according to their coach, as they were able to figure out what worked best, with the strategy coming to fruition in their results.

Tretbar ran the 6K in 21:12 followed by Wallace, who ran 21:14, to cross the line in 14^th- and 16^th- place respectively. Rose recorded a 25^th-place finish with a time of 21:34 and Scott placed 29^th overall at 21:40. Johnson, the final Sooner to score in the team race, finished 40th with her 22:04. She was followed by Arriaza in 22:37 and Redwine in 22:39. Heidenburg ran the race in 23:24 and Bryce Perry rounded out the Sooner entries with a time of 24:47.

On the men's side, Blankenbaker finished sixth in the 8K race with a time of 25:42.1. Alldritt placed 23^rd with a 26:15.1 and was joined almost three seconds later by Meirow at 26:17.8 for a 25^th-place result. Taylor was 29^thwith his 26:30.5 and Gentry, the final Sooner to count in team points, was 48^th with his 26:54.3. Chavez recorded a 27:20.1 and Butts posted a 27:23.6. The last two Oklahoma men to record times were Staub, with a time of 27:52.3, and Warren who had a 29:00.7.

Both Tretbar and Blankenbaker earned spots on the All-Big 12 team with their efforts. It marked a third consecutive award for Tretbar and a second consecutive for Blankenbaker.

Ondrasek: "The women's race went pretty much as planned as far as how they executed and how they went out. They took advantage of it. They ran really well, the highest finish in team history, and that's really big. All the credit goes to them and all the work that they've put in and just being relentless this year. We found that [the women's] team actually runs a lot better if they go out as individuals and then find each other during the race. They seem to be a lot more motivated by that aspect. We stuck to that and it worked really well for us. The men's race was really odd. I've never seen anything like it to be completely honest. It looked more like a tactical 5K indoors than it did a cross country race outside. I wouldn't say it raced to our strengths. They did the best they could with the position they were in. It was a close one.”

NCAA Midwest Regional – Friday, Nov. 11, Iowa City, Iowa

Blankenbaker and Alldritt took home All-Midwest Region honors with their sixth- and 24^th- place finishes, respectively, in the NCAA Midwest Regional hosted by the University of Iowa. It was the second such honor for Blankenbaker and a career first for Alldritt.

After leading a portion of the 10K race, Blankenbaker ultimately finished in sixth place with a time of 30:27.3. Alldritt ran a time of 30:51.5. Meirow finished 50^thwith a 31:19.6 (48th in team scoring). Taylor was the next OU runner to finish, coming in 101^st overall (96^th in team score) with a 32:16.4. Rounding out the scoring was Butts with a 116^th-place finish (109^th team scoring) in 32:29.9. Gentry recorded a 32:42.2. The men finished in ninth place with 283 team points.

The women's team continued to re-write the program history as the team finished in seventh place overall in the 6K race with 228 points. The point total marked the lowest team score in last 10 years and was 54 points lower than last year. Combined with the Big 12 results, the women once again showed that they have a great foundation going forward into next year.

Tretbar was the top finisher for the women, coming in 27^thwith a time of 20:53.0. Rose followed in 44^th-place (43^rd in team scoring) with a 21:12.7 and Arriaza finished in 21:15.6, putting her in 47^th-place overall (46^th in team scoring). Wallace was the fourth Sooner to cross the line, finishing 55^th (54^th in team scoring) with a 21:22.7. The final scorer for OU was Scott, who recorded a 59^th- place finish (58^th in team scoring) with 21:29.1. Johnson ran the course in 21:30.3 and Redwine capped off the team's performance with a time of 22:19.2.

Ondrasek: "The women set it up right. They ran and looked like they belonged at the national meet. I loved watching them do that. I love the fact that they went for it. All of the women went out of their comfort zone. They set it up hard, knowing that the race wouldn't come back to them, and they had to give it a go. That kind of racing becomes habitual with a team and, when they start racing like that every time, then it becomes the team mantra. I think that this is the start of something great. I think what we took from these races was just the tenacity that they had, the intensity in the way they raced. They raced like they were supposed to be at the national meet and that's what you expect from OU. If they keep racing like that and they keep training, we'll just get better and better. The men's team ran smart and they ran patient. We had a couple of people who linked up and grouped up. Dylan's move at 6K, I thought, was awesome. He felt that people weren't in position and he went for it. I thought he could sneak away with the win and he's the caliber of an athlete that can win. It was nice to see him act on that. I think that's going to pay off in the long run. Learning how to make moves and push to the front is an art and he's figuring that one out. We came out with two all-region athletes, which in our region is quite an accomplishment.”

NCAA Cross Country Championship – Saturday, Nov. 19, Terre Haute, Ind.

The final race of the season is a story of what might have been. Fifth-year senior Dylan Blankenbaker was the lone runner to qualify for the Sooners and he finished 205^th after being caught up in a couple of falls in the race. He had been running well early on, holding at 25^th- place, when the first of the incidents occurred. It pushed him back to a point he couldn't recover from. He eventually crossed the line at 31:45.0 to cap off not only the cross country season but his cross country career at Oklahoma as well.

Ondrasek: “Dylan's race was a bummer. He was fit, he was ready, he got out well. He was in the perfect position. Right after the 1K mark, he was in about 25th-place and someone went down in front of him. He went down with them, then had to hurdle someone. When he did, he fell and found himself in the bottom of the pack. Up until the fall he ran great. He got out well and was sitting pretty. He was drafting, he looked comfortable. After he fell, he got up and still went and maintained decent position in probably 60th-place. Around 500 meters later, another fall happened and Dylan tripped and fell again. It's disappointing but it's not his fault.”