University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooner Men Finish Second At SMU Cross Country Invitational :: McNair finishes second with career-best time.

Sooner Men Finish Second At SMU Cross Country Invitational :: McNair finishes second with career-best time.
 
 
 

 
Joey McNair posted a career best to finish second and lead OU at the SMU Invitational.
  
 
Sooner Men Finish Second At SMU Cross Country Invitational

McNair finishes second with career-best time.

Sept. 21, 2002

DALLAS, Texas - Junior Joey McNair finished second in the men's race to lead the Sooners to a second-place finish in the SMU Invitational at Norbuck Park today. McNair was one of the four Sooner men to post career-best times in the 8K race. The Sooner women were third in the four-team women's meet.

Southern Methodist won the men's meet with 22 points and OU finished with 46. Louisiana Tech was third with 76 points. North Texas did not have enough individuals to post a team score.

Aisha Stringer led the Sooner women as three OU runners posted career-best marks in the 5K race. Rice won the women's team title with 25 points. SMU was second with 46 followed by OU (91) and North Texas (97).

McNair moved into second place with just over 100 meters left in the race and finished with a 25:07. Jimmy Buchanan had a 25:53 to finish fourth overall. Darren Hutchins posted a 26:56 followed by John Mulholland (27:19) and Andrew Call (27:20). Hutchins, Mulholland and Call also had career-best marks in the event.

Stringer finished 15th overall with a 20:27. Jackie Dubois (20:48), Sara Justice (21:49) and Emily Leonard (21:58) posted career best marks and Amanda Luksetich was the third best runner for the Sooners with a 20:50. The career improvements for the women averaged more than two minutes over their previous bests.

"Our men ran a controlled race in the first half, just like we had planned to do, and they were much improved running together as a team," said Sooner coach Rodney Rothoff. "They followed the plan better than we did the last time out and the result was better overall times. Our women also followed the race plan better than they did at Wichita State two weeks ago. They ran a lot better overall and as a group were more competitive and more aggressive.

"Joey continues to show the strength he developed this summer and over the last month of training. His focus has continued to improve. That improvement allowed him to pass the guy who was second as the race was coming to an end. Andrew ran a very good race today as well," Rothoff added.

"This was a real test on a tough course. I thought both teams showed huge improvements over the first meet of the season. I am pleased with the performances of both teams as we continue to develop and progress toward the championship portion of our season."

The Sooners return to action on Oct. 5 when they travel to the OSU Cowboy Jamboree.

SMU Invitational

Men's Team Scores

1. SMU 22; 2. Oklahoma 46; 3. LA Tech 76; North Texas No score

Individual Winner -- Mindi Pukstas, SMU, 25:02

OU Results -- 2. Joey McNair, 25:07; 4. Jimmy Buchanan, 25:53; 9. Darren Hutchins, 26:56;15. John Mulholland, 27:19; 16. Andrew Call, 27:20; 19. Jason Brown, 27:55; 25. Billy Grona, 28:39

Women's Team Scores

1. Rice 25; 2. SMU 46; 3. Oklahoma 91; 4. UNT 97

Individual Winner -- Karin van Rooyen, SMU, 17:56.6

OU Results -- 15. Aisha Stringer, 20:27; 17. Jackie Dubois, 20:48; 18. Amanda Luksetich, 20:50; 20. Sara Justice, 21:49; 21. Emily Leonard, 21:58