Stars pointing towards Sooner Athletic Conference Championships on Nov. 6
AUGUSTA, Kan. – Oklahoma City University will open the 2010 cross country season with the 62nd annual J.K. Gold Classic hosted by Wichita State on Saturday.
The race is located at the RAFT Golf Course, complete with rolling to hilly grass terrain. A total of 15 collegiate and nine prep teams will be participating in the competition, named for former WSU track and field head coach John “J.K.” Kornelson.
The women’s course of 4,000 meters will be two loops around the two-kilometer course located on the golf course. This is a shorter distance than the traditional 5,000-meter course the women will typically race this season. The women will begin their race at 9 a.m.
The OCU cross country team returns just two seniors to the squad. A total of 14 men and women will participate in Saturday’s J.K. Gold Classic. This meet will serve as a tuneup for the team, and an opportunity for the freshman to obtain much-needed collegiate experience.
OCU coach Micheal Houston will have his eyes on returners Vanessa Richartz, Elyse Davis and Sooner Davenport to anchor the Stars’ season. Richartz, a sophomore from Norman, Okla., paced the women’s squad last season, including leading the Stars in the Southern Nazarene Preseason Challenge to kick off her collegiate career. Richartz also won her age group in the 2010 Oklahoma City Memorial half-marathon.
Davis and Davenport will bring additional veteran experience to the women. This trio is expected to continue to lead the pack as the newcomers to the team become acclimated to the collegiate running experience.
For the Stars, this cross country season will be one of gearing towards the Sooner Athletic Conference Championships, taking place on Nov. 6 in Shawnee, Okla.
“The Sooner Athletic Conference in cross country is one of the toughest conferences in the country,” Houston said. “We have at least four teams from our conference make the national meet and we only have seven total teams in the SAC.”
In addition to qualifying through the one automatic conference selection, teams must be ranked in the NAIA top 25 to earn a place in the NAIA Championships on Nov. 20 in Vancouver, Wash.
“My goal for this year for this team, as young as we are, is just to finish in the top half of the conference,” Houston said. “If we can do that, if we can accomplish that goal, then we’ve done well.”