OU Announces Cross Country Schedule

NORMAN – Jim VanHootegem, University of Oklahoma head track and field coach, and Kevin Ondrasek, associate cross country coach, have announced the 2016 Sooner cross country schedule. The Sooners have three meets in September and one in October before the Big 12 Championship.

The last meet in September, the 31^st annual Roy Griak Invitational, is hosted by the University of Minnesota men's and women's cross country programs on Sept. 24. One of the largest meets in the country, the Griak includes six collegiate races and four high school races and will be run on the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights, Minn.

"We are building a program that will compete on the national level. You have to seek out meets like the Griack and the Pre-National to do that. To be the best, you have to race against the best,."
— Jim VanHootegem

The meet is named after the late Minnesota head coach who served as coach from 1963-1996 and led the Gophers to three Big Ten titles (two cross country, one track and field). After stepping down as the head coach, Griak remained on the staff as an administrative assistant until his death in 2015 at which point he had served Minnesota for 51 years.

“I really like the way this schedule works for our teams,” VanHootegem said. “We have a couple of early meets that will let the student-athletes find out where they are, compared to the others on the team. Then, we have a pair of major invitationals. The Griak has become a very large event, an event that transcends the sport.

“These two meets, the Griak and the NCAA Pre-National, give us an opportunity to get at-large points as we will be going up against teams outside our region. The NCAA Pre-National gives us chance to run with potential NCAA qualifiers on the course that will host the NCAA Championship. We are building a program that will compete on the national level. You have to seek out meets like the Griack and the Pre-National to do that. To be the best, you have to race against the best,” he added.

OU opens the season on Thursday, Sept. 1, at the OSU Opener in Stillwater. They will travel to Denton, Texas, for the North Texas Invite. The Griak is next on Sept. 24 followed by the Pre-National on Oct. 15.

“I really like the way this schedule sets up the season,” Ondrasek said. “It gives our younger runners a chance to see where they are as competitors. Those first two meets give them the opportunity to run, beat some other teams and get a measure of where they are as freshmen. None of our runners who competed in the NCAA Outdoor will run in the first two meets. They have to take time off before they start building back up again.

“It also helps with the transition from high school to collegiate competition,” the first-year Sooner coach continued. “In high school, you compete more, so you train less. In college, you compete less but train more. New collegiate runners will learn that at this level, the training is really more important than the competition.”

Ondrasek inherits teams that have a nice blend of experienced runners and energized newcomers. The OU women lost five runners from the 2015 squad while the men lost four who graduated. The women return seven who lettered in 2015, 10 who participated but did not letter and three who did not run. They also welcome an incoming freshman.. The men return six letterwinners, two who participated but didn't letter and five who did not compete in any meets. The men also welcome six first-year runners to the team.

After the four regular season meets, the Sooners head into the championship part of the season, starting with the Big 12 Championship in Lubbock, Texas, on Oct. 31. The NCAA Midwest Regional meet is scheduled for Nov. 11 in Iowa City with the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., on Nov. 19.

The coaching staff is complete, the schedule is ready and the student-athletes have checked in for the year. Practice starts Sunday and the season opens 11 days later.

2016 Schedule
Date	Opponent	Site	Time (CT)
Sept. 1	OSU Opener	Stillwater, Okla.	TBA
Sept. 17	North Texas Invite	Denton, Texas	TBA
Sept. 24	Roy Griak Inv.	Minneapolisa, Minn.	9 a.m.
Oct. 15	NCAA Pre-National	Terre Haute, Ind.	TBA
Oct. 31	Big 12 Championship	Norman, Okla.	1 p.m.
Nov. 11	NCAA Midwest Regional	Iowa City, Iowa	TBA
Nov. 19	NCAA Championships	Terre Haute, Ind.	TBA

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors