No. 1 Oklahoma State and No. 2 Northern Arizona at Cowboy Jamboree
Top-ranked Oklahoma State is set to host the 76th-annual Cowboy Jamboree on Saturday, at the OSU Cross Country Course, in Stillwater, Okla.
The Jamboree will feature a monster matchup between the top two men’s squads in the country–No. 1 Oklahoma State and No. 2 Northern Arizona.
“I think it’s good to be tested early and see where you are,” Oklahoma State Coach Dave Smith said on the school’s website.
“Northern Arizona has come to the Jamboree several times in the last few years–they just decided to take a hiatus last year. I think it’s good for the sport and our team. It’s good all the way around to have good competition.”
He added about his own runners: “At this time of the year, it’s hard for our most competitive athletes. They’re training very hard without a chance to really go out there and measure themselves, so some of our top guys are really ready to go.
“They want to go out and run well. None of these guys want to lose to anybody.”
The two will go head-to-head along with another pair of ranked squads in No. 6 Tulsa and No. 28 Michigan.
Oklahoma State placed second in the team competition at the Bluegrass Invitational, behind Eastern Kentucky.
In competition last weekend, No. 2 Northern Arizona earned second place at the Dave Murray Invitational. Sixth-ranked Tulsa also placed second in its most recent meet, this time behind No. 5 Arkansas, in the Southern Stampede.
The Cowboys will look to reprise their role as the Champions of the Cowboy Jamboree, and the other ranked teams will be right behind them trying to nab the title.
How to Follow the Meets
Fans can come watch the meet in person, as it is free to the public.
Online, fans can follow the action live on Twitter by following @run4okstate for updates. Final results will be published on www.okstate.com
Also competing this weekend:
No. 3 Colorado at Rocky Mountain Shootout
Third-ranked Colorado will host the 28th Annual Rocky Mountain Shootout on CU’s Campus at the Buffalo Ranch Cross Country Course on Saturday. No other current top-10 teams will be present at the meet, however No. 2 Western State of Division II will be competing.
This meet will be the first for the Buffs since their time trials on Aug. 31.
No. 4 BYU and No. 9 Syracuse at Griak Invitational
The 28th annual Roy Griak Invitational will be hosted by Minnesota on Saturday. In addition to both No. 4 BYU and No. 9 Syracuse the meet will include Minnesota, Arizona, Arizona State, Central Michigan, Georgia and Missouri, to name a few.
The Cougars won their previous meet on Sept. 14 with Tylor Thatcher leading the way.
Also on Sept. 14, the Orangemen won their race and redshirt freshman, MJ Erb, led the pack, earning second place in the meet.
No. 8 Wisconsin at Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown
The biggest move of this weeks poll came with Wisconsin, the team champion from 2011, moving back up two spots to No. 8 after falling from its preseason No. 7 position to No. 10 last week.
Wisconsin will be at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown on Friday. The No. 12 Oregon Ducks will also look to make its first statement of 2013 in Boston with its slew of impressive transfers and recruits, along with No. 25 Providence.
In Wisconsin’s past two meets, the Badgers have nabbed the team title in both. They will look to go three-meets in a row in Boston this weekend.
