ABILENE – The Abilene Christian cross country teams head to their largest meet of the season Saturday when Oklahoma State plays host to the annual running of the Cowboy Jamboree. This year's edition features 1,231 runners representing more than 90 teams competing in the university and college groups.
Recognized as the oldest cross country meet in the nation, the Cowboy Jamboree will take place at the OSU Cross Country Course in Stillwater with races starting at 8 a.m. The University group, featuring the Wildcats men's and women's teams, will begin with the women's 6K at 9:15 a.m. followed by the men's 8K at 9:45 a.m.
Despite being given a major stage on which to run, several Wildcats won't be permitted due to nagging injuries. But for as important as this meet is, head coach Chris Woods says the conference meet is even more so.
“Nothing's more important than the conference meet, and right now a few injuries are holding us back and need to be taken care of,” he said. “None of the injuries are season ending, but it's frustrating that our bodies won't allow us to showcase our talent. We have the talent to compete against this field of high-caliber teams and it's really an honor to be there as a representative of this university.”
Both Wildcat teams competed at 2010 Cowboy Jamboree and finished among the top 10. The women finished eighth overall (215 points) and were second among NCAA Division II schools in the meet behind third-place Pittsburg State (142 points).
The men placed 10th with 257 points, but finished fourth among DII teams as regional foes Central Missouri (fourth with 175 points), Pittsburg State (eighth with 215 points) and East Central (ninth with 250 points) all finished ahead of the Wildcats.
On the women's side, ACU had three top-30 finishers, including returnees Chloe Susset (27th, 23:04.81) and Alyse Goldsmith (29th, 23:08.99). Anais Belledant was tops among the Wildcats, covering the 6000 meters in 22:24.62.
For the Wildcat men, senior
Amos Sang finished fourth in the individual standings, finishing the 8K course in 24:25.04.
Cleophas Tanui was 15th in 25:04.40.
ACU's teams recorded their first 6 and 8K races two weeks ago at home for the Naimadu Classic.
Spenser Lynn won the men's race in 26:24 and was closely followed by teammates Will Pike (26:35) and
Erik Forrister (26:37.50).
Goldsmith won the women's title in 18:36.97, 16 seconds ahead of the runner-up, Susset, who finished in 18:52.54.
Information from OKState.com was used in this release.
