Cross-country heads to tough regional.
By Adam Hensley
One championship meet down, two to go. Friday will be the day of the NCAA cross-country regional meet. The Midwest Region, in which Iowa runs, has five teams ranked in the top 30 nationally. The stakes are high, and the competition level will be higher.
“In the words of Jim Valvano, Friday is simply ‘survive and advance,’ ” Oklahoma State director of cross-country Dave Smith said.
The Cowboys aim to win the Midwest meet for the third-straight year.
Last year, Kirubel Erassa won the meet as a senior. Now, senior Vegard Oelstad — the Big 12 cross-country champion — seeks to be one of the leaders on the team.
Smith’s Cowboys are accustomed to high rankings. His team comes in at sixth nationally in the polls and sitting atop the Midwest Region.
“[Rankings] are just opinions and carry no weight in terms of a seeding process or determining who wins or loses or who advances and who doesn’t,” Smith said. “Our athletes understand that and know that everything will be earned on the course on Friday.”
Following the Cowboys in the regional rankings, Tulsa ranks 14th nationally.
Tulsa won the American Athletic Conference meet for the second-consecutive year. The Golden Hurricanes dominated, scoring 22 points, 74 points ahead of second place. They held four of the top five individual places, including the top three spots.
Senior Marc Scott won the meet for the second year in a row.
“Marc loves competing on the highest stages, so he will be excited to continue his progression and lead his team to the NCAAs again,” head coach Steve Gulley said. “Scott has competed at a high level for a very long time now and has been in these sorts of situations before.”
The past two seasons, Tulsa has finished second in the regional. This season, the goal will be to break the streak and snag first place.
Coming off a commanding performance in their conference meet, the Golden Hurricanes build momentum heading into a pivotal meet.
Gulley believes that running aggressively can lead to his team’s success.
“We have been aggressive in the last two meets and have been rewarded with some great team performances. If we can replicate those performances, we should have a great day,” he said.
While Tulsa dominated its conference meet, Illinois and Minnesota were pleasant surprises in the Big Ten meet.
The Illini and Gophers finished second and third, beating major teams such as Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Indiana. Six of Illinois’ seven runners finished in the top 30, while three Minnesota runners placed in the top 15.
Aside from the top teams, Bradley promises to be a surprise team.
The Braves won the Missouri Valley meet this season, and up until then, they had never placed higher than third. Michael Ward finished fourth for Bradley, breaking his previous school record and getting a time of 24:03.07.
While they do not enter with the attention like the larger schools, Bradley should not be taken for granted.
As Valvano said, it is about surviving and advancing. Each team has a shot at taking home and no one should be overlooked.