University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Set Personal Bests At Big 12 Cross Country Meet :: OU men finish 11th, women 12th in team standings.

Sooners Set Personal Bests At Big 12 Cross Country Meet :: OU men finish 11th, women 12th in team standings.
 
 
 

 
Joey McNair set personal bests in terms of time and overall finish at the 2002 Big 12 Cross Country Championships today.
  
 
Sooners Set Personal Bests At Big 12 Cross Country Meet

OU men finish 11th, women 12th in team standings.

Nov. 2, 2002

COLUMBIA, Mo. - While the University of Colorado was sweeping the team and individual awards, the OU men's and women's cross country teams were establishing personal bests with seven of OU's 13 competitors at the seventh annual Big 12 Cross Country Championships at the A.J. Gustin Jr. Golf Course Saturday dropping their previous best times.

Colorado won its seventh consecutive Big 12 men's cross country title with runners finishing first, second, fourth and fifth. The Buffs finished with 25 points. Texas was the next best competitor with 90 points. The CU women won their sixth title with a final team score of 34 points. CU took the top three spots in the individual standings. Missouri finished second with 107 points.

Jorge Torres became the first three-time men's conference men's champion, covering the 8k course in 23:32. Molly Austin also repeated, finishing the 6k course in 20:26.

Joey McNair led the Sooner men. He finished 26th, an all-time best finish, with a career best 24:53 in the 8k race. His new best is 13 seconds faster than the previous mark he set Oct. 5 at the Cowboy Jamboree. Kim Thomas led the OU women, finishing 66th with a time of 23:48, also a career best time for her.

"I was pleased with the number of our runners who set personal bests in this meet," said Sooner coach Rodney Rothoff. "Today's results demonstrate the strength and depth of this conference. Still, we had runners go out and improve their all-time marks.

"I am happy that we were able to continue to improve our times and we will continue to work over the next two weeks to make more improvements before the regional meet. We have worked hard to improve but today's results show that we have a lot more work to do," Rothoff added.

OU's next competition will be Nov. 16 at the NCAA Midwest Regional.

Results from the seventh annual Big 12 Cross Country Championship
Men (8k race)
Team Standings -- 1. Colorado 25; 2. Texas 90; 3. Texas A&M 114; 4. Oklahoma State 132; 5. Iowa State 141; 6. Baylor 148; 7. Nebraska 171; 8. Kansas 208; 9. Missouri 218; 10. Kansas State 254; 11. Oklahoma 274; 12. Texas Tech 329
Individual Winner -- Jorge Torres, Colorado, 23:32
OU Results -- 26. Joey McNair, 24:53*; 50. Jimmy Buchanan 25:27; 61. Darren Hutchins 25:48*; 75. John Mulholland 26:18*; 83. Jason Brown 26:31*; 95. Andrew Call 27:34; 99. Billy Grona 28:07*
Women (6k race)
Team Standings -- 1. Colorado 34; 2. Missouri 107; 3. Texas 109; 4. Texas A&M 125; 5. Baylor 136; 6. Kansas 147; 7. Kansas State 167; 8. Oklahoma State 179; 9. Texas Tech 197; 10. Iowa State 237; 11. Nebraska 257; 12. Oklahoma 356
Individual Winner -- Molly Austin, Colorado, 20:26
OU Results -- 66. Kim Thomas 23:48*; 67. Aisha Stringer 23:55; 71. Alaina Dearman 24:20; 74. Amanda Luksetich 24:50; 78. Sara Justice 25:27*; 79. Jackie Dubois 25:32
(*) Indicates a career best at this distance