The cross-country team will head to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics after victories at the Sooner Athletic Competition.
OCU runners came in first, second and third. Oscar Kipkoros, criminology junior, collected the SAC individual title with a time of 25 minutes and three seconds. Max McNeill, economics and finance junior, came in next with 25 minutes and 26 seconds. Moses Dirane, criminal justice junior, finished at 25 minutes and 48 seconds.
Lydia Mato, criminal justice senior, completed the race in 18 minutes and 33 seconds, coming in first. Tyler Berge, accounting senior, completed the race in 19 minutes, coming in fifth. Natalie Dryden, early childhood education freshman, came in fifth with 19 minutes and 16 seconds.
The male runners who will attend nationals are Kyle McKinley, math education sophomore; Isaac Roldan, business administration senior; Ilijah Coleman, elementary education junior; Michal Roguski, chemistry junior; Oaklin Davis, business administration senior; Kipkoros; McNeill; and Dirane.
The female runners who will attend nationals are Delaney Mayo, biochemistry junior; Anna Palacios-Garcia, accounting and finance senior; Kassidy Williams, human performance senior; Alexas Vargas, biomedical science junior; Sheridan Hoyer, mass communications junior; Mato; Dryden; and Berge.
Matthew D. Aguero, head coach of cross-country and track, said he appreciates the success that the team has obtained.
“I feel pretty good so far,” he said. “We have one more big meet, where we are really shooting for the conference championship. That’s the one we really shoot to run our best at.”
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics will be on Friday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Thirty-six teams will compete for the national championship. The team competed last year and won third place, but McNeill said the team is aiming for first this year.
“I’m confident about the team. I feel we have a really good one,” McNeill said. “We came third last year. There’s a couple of really good teams there, but I feel we have a good chance of winning.”
McNeill said the team has been training intensely, practicing six days a week.
“We run everyday, and we meet six times a week,” he said. “Tuesday and Friday, we’ll do two hard workouts, and we’ll go to the gym and do weights and core.”
Aguero said preparing for the championship has not been that different from preparing for other championships in the past.
“We’ve considered things that worked and things that didn’t,” he said. “It’s just a lot of hard work, putting in the time and training.”
As for the championship, McNeill said he is feeling confident in his team’s abilities.
“We’ve been ranked number one all season,” McNeill said. “We’re going to win this.”
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