IOWA CITY, Iowa, Sporting Alert – Pre-championship favourite Oklahoma State secured its sixth consecutive NCAA Midwest Regional men’s cross country title in Iowa on Friday.
The Cowboys placed all five of their scorers inside the top 23 on the Ashton Cross Country Course to finished with a team score of 64 points en route to their 14th title overall since 1997.
Tulsa, led by the individual men’s 10,000-metre champion, Luke Traynor, ran impressively for second place with 89 points, while Illinois finished third with a score of 113 points.
The top five was completed by Iowa State with 120 points and Bradley, with 135 points.
Oklahoma State and Tulsa secured the two automatic berth from the Midwest Regional for the NCAA National Championships on Nov. 19, in Indiana.
Senior Joshua Thompson paced Oklahoma State with a second place finish in the 10k, crossing the finishing line in 30:18.8.
Hassan Abdi (30:23.5) was fourth, Sylvester Barus (30:42.7) took 15th, Christian Liddell (30:47.9) was 20th and Anthoney Armstrong (30:51.4) grabbed 23rd.
“We’re starting to come together a little bit,” Smith said. “Josh back to running where we expect him to be and Sylvester is making great progress to get to where he was at the beginning of the year.”
Senior Traynor of Tulsa found an extra gear in the closing metres of the race to outpace Thompson and win the Midwest Regional individual 10k honour with a time of 30:18.5.
Traynor was well supported by Benjamin Preisner (30:35.0), Henry Pearce (30:35.9) and Adam Roderique (30:37.0) in 10th, 11th and 12th. Jay Ort completed Tulsa scorers in 55th with a time of 31:25.1.
Overall, Joel Reichow of South Dakota State (30:21.8) for third place, Illinois’ Dylan Lafond (30:27.1) in fifth, Dylan Blankenbaker of Oklahoma (30:27.3) in sixth, Drake’s Reed Fischer (30:29.8), seventh, Thomas Pollard of Iowa State (30:31.0), eighth and Michael Ward (30:33.7), ninth, were all among the top 10 finishers.
NCAA Midwest Regional
Top 10 Final Standings
1 Oklahoma State 64
2 Tulsa 89
3 Illinois 113
4 Iowa State 120
5 Bradley 135
6 South Dakota St. 154
7 Minnesota 205
8 Kansas 233
9 Oklahoma 283
10 Missouri 333
NCAA Midwest Regional Men’s 10k Top 15
1 Luke Traynor SR Tulsa 30:18.5
2 Joshua Thompson SR Oklahoma State 30:18.8
3 Joel Reichow SR South Dakota St. 30:21.8
4 Hassan Abdi JR Oklahoma State 30:23.5
6 Dylan Blankenbaker SR Oklahoma 30:27.3
7 Reed Fischer SR Drake 30:29.8
8 Thomas Pollard FR Iowa State 30:31.0
9 Michael Ward JR Bradley 30:33.7
10 Benjamin Preisner JR Tulsa 30:35.0
11 Henry Pearce JR Tulsa 30:35.9
12 Adam Roderique JR Tulsa 30:37.0
13 Patrick Campbell SR Bradley 30:39.5
14 Obsa Ali JR Minnesota 30:42.1
15 Sylvester Barus JR Oklahoma State 30:42.7
