University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooner Men Finish In Top 10 At Cowboy Jamboree :: Career bests dropped and established by 18 Sooner runners.

Sooner Men Finish In Top 10 At Cowboy Jamboree :: Career bests dropped and established by 18 Sooner runners. Sooner Men Finish In Top 10 At Cowboy Jamboree

Career bests dropped and established by 18 Sooner runners.




Aisha Stringer was one of 18 Sooners to drop or set a career best Saturday at the OSU Cowboy Jamboree.

Sept. 29, 2001

STILLWATER, Okla. - Jimmy Buchanan and Aisha Stringer ran OU career bests in their races today as the Sooner men finished 10th at the OSU Cowboy Jamboree and the women finished 13th.

"I was pleased with the way we competed today," said Sooner coach Todd Maycumber. "Our men performed very well. This may be our best ever finish in this event. Our women ran well, dropping their career times. Both teams performed well in the first big, extremely competitive meet of the year. It was a good test for us and a great learning experience.

Buchanan led the Sooner men for the first time in his OU career with a 25:29 in the 8k race to finish 35th. Joey McNair finished 36th with a 25:30 and senior Brandon Kissack finished 37th with a 25:34. Stringer led the Sooner women for the first time this season, covering the 5k course with a 19:40. Joni Alexander was OU's second best finisher with a 19:53, good for 61st, and sophomore Amanda Luksetich was 63rd with a 20:02.

The Arkansas men and the Georgetown women won the team race. John Kemboi of Abilene Christian took the men's individual title with a 24:02 and Kansas State's Amy Mortimer won the race with a 17:20.

Both Sooner teams did a major rewrite on the career list as a total of six men and four women changed OU career bests and four men and four women established Sooner career marks in their races. McNair's time was 60 seconds faster than his best 8k time from his freshman year, senior Cecil Rose dropped his career-best by 61 seconds and sophomore Darren Hutchins cut his 8k career best by 49 seconds. Stringer's time was a career best by 10 seconds and junior Alaina Dearman dropped her career-best mark by 17 seconds. For the women, the biggest cut in a career-best time came from senior Jenny Ledford, who lowered her mark by 42 seconds.The biggest cut in a career mark, though, was posted by sophomore Freddie Stephens, who lowered his 8k career time by more than two minutes.

"Joey ran the best race of his Sooner career and Aisha was our MVP on the women's side," Maycumber added. "We held our top female runner, Kelli O'Rourke, out because of an injury and that hurt our team performance. For the men, Sean Culp, who is usually our fourth or fifth runner, didn't run, also because of an injury. I was very happy with these performances and this was just what we needed at this point of the season."

The Sooners will take next weekend off from competition and will return to action on Oct. 13.

Results
Men: 1. Arkansas 47, 2. Abilene Christian 69, 3. Oklahoma State 103, 4. Adams State 143, 5. South Plains College 186, 6. Kansas 190, 7. Harding 214, 8. Missouri Southern 250, 9. Kansas State 267, 10. OKLAHOMA 268, 11. Texas Tech 273, 12. Southwest Texas State 284, 13. Texas-Arlington 291, 14. Southwest Missouri State 299, 15. Pittsburg State 388, 16. Oral Roberts 407, 17. Northwood 412.
Individual Winner: John Kemboi, Abilene Christian, 24:02
OU Results -- 35. Jimmy Buchanan 25:29, 36. Joey McNair 25:30, 37. Brandon Kissack 25:34, 74. Cecil Rose 26:40, 86. Darren Hutchins 27:08, 90. Freddie Stephens 27:11, 96. Kevin Howarth 27:26
Other Sooner Results -- Trevor Gillum 27:32, Andrew Call 27:37, Jeremiah Smith 28:22, Forest Walker 28:23, Jason Brown 29:01
Women: 1. Georgetown 35, 2. Oklahoma State 59, 3. Adams State 80, 4. Kansas State 110, 5. Kansas 157, 6. Texas Tech 184, 7. Southwest Missouri State 207, 8. Pittsburg State 238, 9. Oral Roberts 244, 10. Abilene Christian 294, 11. Texas-Arlington 298, 12. Southwest Texas State 302, 13. OKLAHOMA 323, 14. Southwestern Oklahoma State 426
Individual Winner - Amy Mortimer, Kansas State, 17:20
OU Results -- 59. Aisha Stringer 19:40, 61. Joni Alexander 19:53, 62. Amanda Luksetich 20:02, 68. Jenny Ledford 20:13, 73. Alaina Dearman 20:23, 79. Jackie Dubois 20:47, 88. Krista Rowe 22:12
Other Sooner Results -- Emily Leonard 22:33