The OU men's team capped off a historic season with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
Dec. 6, 2010
NORMAN, Okla.-- The University of Oklahoma cross country program completed a historic season as the men’s team a program-best fifth at the 2010 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Kevin Schwab earned Oklahoma’s fifth All-America honor leading the Sooners to its best finish since 1946.
In route to the championship, the Sooners climbed the polls from week-to-week, earning nine Big 12 and Midwest Region honors along the way. The Oklahoma men began the season ranked No. 12 nationally by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), but catapulted to No. 5 after winning the Pre-Nationals meet in Terre Haute, Ind., its highest ranking of the season.
At the Big 12 Championships, the OU men placed all five scoring runners in the top 16 placing four on the All-Big 12 team. Schwab and Rob Sorrell claimed All-Big 12 honors for the second straight year as George Alex and Kevin Williams earned their first All-Big 12 honors.
Oklahoma continued on its historic run in the NCAA Midwest Regional as the Sooners placed first to record its first NCAA Regional title in program history. The Sooners stood atop the podium after finishing ahead of No. 1 and eventual National Champion Oklahoma State. Individually, Schwab placed second overall to earn his third All-Midwest Region honor, as Sorrell, Kogel, Williams and Alex finished in the top 15 to earn All-Midwest Region honors as well.
Head coach Martin Smith was named the 2010 Roy Griak Midwest Region Cross Country of the Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA after the team’s performance at the regional. The honor marked Smith’s fourth coaching honor at Oklahoma and the 13th of his career.
The OU women’s team ranked in the top 15 of the Midwest Region for six weeks, ranking as high as No.13. The Sooners earned personal best times week-by-week and concluded their season at the NCAA Midwest Regional with strong performances by top runners Annie Martin and Molly Ferguson.
Eleven Sooners were named to the Academic All-Big 12 first team as Alex Muntefering was honored with a perfect 4.0 G.P.A. Muntefering was joined by Jacob Boone, Scott Cooper, Patrick Gomez, Kogel, Schwab, Sorrell and Williams on the men’s side and Natalie Crain, Ferguson and Kelly Waters on the women’s side.
"The program has come a very long way in a relatively short period of time and it's broken in at a level that you hadn't seen a school like Oklahoma before,” said head coach Martin Smith. “They've come a long way. Finishing top five in the country I think begins to demonstrate that this is hopefully going to be a program with a long-term future at the very high level of NCAA cross country. I think it also shows that last year's 12th-place finish was not an accident and that it was part of the building process. It will have a tremendous positive effect on recruiting and creating interest in the program. Most importantly, it is a reward for the guys who have done all the hard work, especially for a guy like Rob Sorrell who has been the captain and a pioneer changing the landscape of Oklahoma cross country. It's been a work in progress, it's not over but it's surely been an exciting journey so far."
Hurricane Cross Country Festival
The cross country program opened the season at the Hurricane Cross Country Festival Sep. 4, finishing third in both the men's and women's division.
The then-No. 12 ranked men were led by Patrick Gomez who finished the four-mile course in eighth place with a time of 20 minutes and eight seconds. Alex Muntefering was close behind in 10th (20:11), followed by Colin Slattery in 15th (20:27), Richard Renteria in 16th (20:31), Ross Larimer in 17th (20:44) and Scott Cooper in 20th (20:58).
The top finisher for the Oklahoma women on the two-mile course was Ferguson, who crossed the line in fifth with a time of 11:11. Kelly Waters claimed sixth (11:13), followed by Hilary Krein in 20th (11:50), Robin Ray in 23rd (12:23) and Crain in 24th (12:24).
Cowboy Jamboree
The OU women's cross country team finished fifth out of 14 teams at the Cowboy Jamboree on Sep. 25.
The top finisher for Oklahoma for the second meet of the season was Ferguson who finished 14th overall with a time of 22:22.83. Ferguson set a career best at the Jamboree, surpassing her previous fastest time on a 6,000-meter course of 22:46.90 at the Chile Pepper Invitational in 2009.
Making their Sooner debuts were Martin, who finished in 16th with a time of 22.25.53, and Krein who finished 32nd, crossing the finish line at 23:16.22. Kelsey Brown followed in 44th (23:59.55) and Crain in 55th (24:42.72).
Adidas Invitational
The then-No. 15 nationally ranked Oklahoma men's team competed at the Adidas Invitational on Oct. 2 against seven nationally ranked teams. The Sooners finished fifth on the 8,000 meter Zimmer Championship course in Madison, Wisc., as the highest placing Big 12 team.
Oklahoma was led by Sorrell who finished in 13th with a time of 23:57. Following close behind for the Sooners was Williams, who crossed the finish line in 19th, clocking a time of 24:01. Alex finished a second back from Williams in 21st with a time of 24:02 and Schwab finished 28th (24:09). Boone crossed the finish line in 51st (24:27) to close out Oklahoma scoring. Muntefering finished 71st (24:41) and Bobby Nicolls ran a time of 25:08.
Five runners recorded personal bests at the Invitational. Sorrell, Williams, Schwab and Nicolls eclipsed their previous fastest 8,000-meter times by more than a second, and Boone ran more than two minutes faster than his previous best at the distance.
Oklahoma placed the highest in the Big 12, finishing ahead of Nebraska, Iowa State, Kansas and Texas A&M. Nebraska was second best among Big 12 schools at 15th.
Chile Pepper Festival
The OU women's team ran its third race of the season on Oct. 16 at the 22nd annual Chile Pepper Festival on the University of Arkansas Cross Country Course.
Ferguson was top finisher for Oklahoma for the third straight meet helping Oklahoma to a ninth place finish out of 56 teams. Ferguson finished 22nd individually in a field that featured 465 runners and crossed the finish line with a time of 17:27.11 on the 5,000 meter course. The Sooners finished with 362 points.
Martin was the second highest finisher for Oklahoma just behind Ferguson with a time of 17:28.01. Rounding out the field for Oklahoma was Waters with a time of 18:25.13, followed by Krein (18:29.51), Brown (18:44.58) and Crain (18:48.96).
Three OU men competed individually in the men's 10,000 meter competition. Larimer recorded the top time for Oklahoma at 31:46.82, followed by Clay Mayes (32:11.78), Renteria (32:30.99) and Slattery (32:40.83).
Pre-Nationals Invitational
The OU men entered the Pre-Nationals Invitational on Oct. 16 ranked No. 16, its lowest ranking of the season, and was set to race against the top teams in the nation, including 10 ranked in the top 30 nationally.
The Sooners placed first at meet among nine ranked teams in the White race division, finishing ahead of three higher ranked teams, including conference opponent No. 4 Colorado, also the sixth place finisher from the 2009 NCAA Championship, No. 8 Portland and No. 13 North Carolina State. The Sooners also bested No. 24 Alabama who placed third at the 2009 NCAA Championships. The title marked the first team win for the Sooners since the 2007 Golden Hurricane Invitational.
Sorrell was the top finisher for Oklahoma for the second straight meet with a time of 23 minutes, 56.8 seconds, earning an 11th-place finish. Sorrell set a personal best time at the 8,000 meter distance, breaking his previous fastest time of 23:57 set at the Adidas Invitational. Sorrell was just 37 seconds off the winning time of 23:19.9, run by eventual two-time NCAA Cross Country champion Samuel Chelanga of Liberty.
The next highest finisher for Oklahoma was Schwab who finished 15th with a time of 24:05.1. Schwab also recorded a personal best from his previous fastest time of 24:09 set at the Adidas Invitational.
The top five finishers for Oklahoma all placed in the top 29, with Kogel coming in at 25th (24:16.3), Alex at 26th (24:17.0) and Williams rounding out the scoring at 29th (24:17). Aaron Sherf recorded a time of 24:50.2 and Boone finished with a time of 24:57.1.
Big 12 Championships
Oklahoma entered the 2010 Big 12 Championships on Oct. 30 after jumping 11 spots to No. 5 in the nation. Coach Smith and the Sooners looked to build ofn its first-place finish at the Pre-Nationals Invitational and best its 2009 third place finish at the 2009 Big 12 Championships.
The No. 5 men’s team matched its 2009 finish placing third for the second straight year as the women came in 12th.
Oklahoma’s top five runners finished in the top 16 to earn 61 points and claim third behind second place finisher Colorado and winner Oklahoma State. The Sooners improved by 14 points from 2009 when the team finished with 75 points.
Schwab paced Oklahoma, finishing eighth with a time of 24:32.65. Schwab ran half a minute faster than his time at the 2009 Big 12 Championships and was just 36 seconds off the winner, Girma Mechaso from Oklahoma State (23:56.94).
Sorrell was the next Sooner across the line, running a time of 24:36.87 to come in 11th. He was followed by Alex in 12th with a time of 24:37.28 and Williams in 14th a time of 24:44.11. Kogel edged out a pack of runners at the finish line to claim 16th with a time of 24:53.36.
This marked the second straight year that Schwab and Sorrell claimed All-Big 12 honors and the first time for Alex, a first-year OU runner, and Williams.
Also competing for the Sooners were Aaron Sherf who crossed the finish line at 25:14.28, Boone (25:24.47), Muntefering (25:46.28) and Gomez (26:05.19).
A team that had been dealing with injuries throughout the season, the OU women posted strong finishes with five runners setting personal bests at the 6,000 meter distance as the team finished with a total of 314 points. Along with the men, the OU women also improved their point total from 2009 with a 26-point increase from 2009’s 340.
Martin set an OU personal best running a time of 21:40.24 to finish 38th, smashing her previous fastest time this year of 22:25.53 set on the same course at the Cowboy Jamboree. Ferguson came in at 58th and also set a personal best with a time of 22:04.95 to best her previous best of 22:22.38 set at the Cowboy Jamboree.
Crain recorded a personal best time of 22:29.83, running two minutes faster than her previous best of 24:42.72. Krein followed with a personal best time of 22:25.53 surpassing her previous best of 23:16.22, Brown recorded a personal best 22:37.53 beating her previous best of 23:59.55 and Waters rounded out the competition for the Sooners, crossing the line at 23:04.24.
NCAA Midwest Regional
After the third place finish at the Big 12 Championships, the OU men dropped three spots to No. 8. Looking to regain momentum, the Sooners came out with some of its best performances of the season as the team captured its first ever NCAA Midwest Regional title on Nov. 13 to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Oklahoma finished ahead of in-state rival and No. 1 Oklahoma State to take home the title for the first time in program history. The Sooners finished with 43 points as Oklahoma State has 50 points and Minnesota finished third with 119 points. All five scorers for the Sooners earned All-Midwest Regional honors as they all finished in the top 15.
Schwab placed second overall to lead the Sooners to a NCAA Championship birth for the second straight year. It was a photo finish as Schwab crossed the finish line with a time of 29 minutes, 30.74 seconds, finishing just behind Colby Lowe of Oklahoma State (29:30.70). Breaking 30 minutes, Schwab ran a career best time at the 10,000 meter distance and also earned his highest finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional. Schwab was named to the All-Midwest Region team for the third time in his career.
Alex was the next best finisher for Oklahoma, finishing sixth with a time of 29:56.52. Sorrell came in at ninth with a personal best 30:00.66, followed by Williams in 11th with a personal best 30:09.8 and Kogel in 15th (30:20.05).
Sorrell, Kogel, Williams and Alex were also named to the All-Region team. This marked the second straight year Sorrell and Kogel earned All-Midwest Region honors. OU and Oklahoma State were the only two teams to place five runners on the All-Midwest Regional team.
Jacob Boone ran a career-best time of 31:06.89 to finish 40th and Aaron Sherf ran a time of 31:07.89 to finish 41st to round out the Oklahoma runners.
Martin and Ferguson competed individually for the OU women. Martin finished 68th with a time of 21:42.79 on the 6,000 meter course while Ferguson ran a personal-best time of 21:47.97 to finish 78th.
NCAA Cross Country Championships
The Sooners were poised and ready to make history at the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind., after earning its first regional title in program history. Jumping two spots back up to No. 6, the Oklahoma men's team was ready to repeat its performance on the LaVern Gibson Championship Course, the same course OU won the Pre-National Invitational.
Oklahoma rose to the occasion to place fifth, recording its highest finish as a program at the NCAA Championships with 281 points, and crowned its third All-American in Schwab.
In route to the top finish OU finished ahead of two higher-ranked teams in then-No. 3 Oregon, who placed sixth, and then-No. 5 New Mexico, who placed 16th. Oklahoma's finish was second among Big 12 teams only behind national champion Oklahoma State. OU's previous best finish was ninth at the 1946 NCAA National Championships.
Schwab finished 23rd with a time of 30:19.1 to pace the Sooners and claim All-America honors. Schwab earned OU's fifth All-America honors in cross country and is the first to do so since Conor Holt in 1995.
Kogel was the next Sooner to cross the finish line with a time of 30:38.7 finishing 54th. Kogel's time was 20 seconds faster than his time at the 2009 NCAA Championships. Sorrell followed with a time of 30:56.4 to finish 77th, Alex crossed the line at 30:57.6 in 81st and Williams ran a time of 31:09.5 to finish 84th and close out scoring for Oklahoma. Sherf also competed for OU finishing with a time of 31:18.5, finishing 115th.
Oklahoma's runners finished among the top 17 of Big 12 athletes. Schwab and Kogel were the fourth and ninth runners to cross the finish line from the Big 12 with Sorrell following close behind at 12th, Alex at 13th, Williams at 15th and Sherf at 17th.
