OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University cross country heads back on the trails on Friday at Texas A&M Arturo Barrios Invitational.
The men's race begins at 8:30 a.m., with the women to follow at 9:15.
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OCU Notebook
Runners of the Week: Ayenew Devany and
Kenzi Readnour swept the Sooner Athletic Conference Cross Country Runner of the Week awards on Tuesday, based on their performances in the Golden Eagle Invitational. Readnour placed third and was the top NAIA runner in the event, finishing the six kilometers in 22:07. Devany won the men's event and led the Stars to the team title. He finished the eight-kilometer race in 24:45.
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Previous Men's Race: Ayenew Devany won the men's cross country race and paced the Stars to a team win at John Brown's Golden Eagle Invitational last weekend. The Stars scored 43 points with three top-10 finishers. OCU finished ahead of John Brown, Mid-America Christian, Rogers State, Texas Wesleyan, and College of the Ozarks in the 10-team field. Devaney beat Tanner Devaney of Ozarks by less than a second for the victory, finishing the eight-kilometer course in 24:45. Randall was fifth at 25:45 andÂ
Braydon Witthorne took 10
th at 26:07. Patten placed 13
th in 26:32, withÂ
Hendrick Ramirez rounding out the scoring in 14
th in 26:34.
Ryan McLaughlin completed the course in 26:54 for 18
th place andÂ
Cooper Phillips was 30
th in 27:39.
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Previous Women's Race: Twenty-fourth-ranked Oklahoma City placed second among 10 women's cross country teams at John Brown's Golden Eagle Invitational last Saturday. The Stars scored 38 points and finished behind only NCAA opponent Rogers State at 21. OCU finished ahead of six Sooner Athletic Conference rivals.
Kenzi Readnour led the Stars in third place, covering the six-kilometer course in 22:07. Three other OCU runners finished in the top 10.Â
Erika Pena was seventh at 22:29,Â
Keira Readnour placed eighth at 22:40 andÂ
Isabella Gutierrez was ninth at 22:47.Â
Florencia Cabrera finished up the scoring in 18
th with a time of 23:46.
Isabelle Spiller took 19
th at 23:56 andÂ
Makenzi DeHart was 26
th at 24:54. Also for the Stars, Madeline Adams finished in 26:01 for 39
th place andÂ
Emily Schneider completed the course in 27:30 for 51
st.
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Last Year at Barrios (Men): The Stars finished 15
th in the Barrios Invitational last season, finishing ahead of a dozen NCAA Division I and II teams.
Ayenew Devany ran the event in 24:37 last year and was in the scoring five for the Stars in 157
th place.
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Last Year at Barrios (Women): The OCU women were 40
th in this meet last season.
Erika Pena,
Isabelle Spiller,
Kamryn Boller and
Makenzi DeHart were all in the scoring five and return this season. Pena finished in 22:46, followed by Spiller (23:17), Boller (23:51) and DeHart (24:20.
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The Course: The Watts Cross Country Course is considered a fast course with good footing. It has hosted the SEC Championships in 2015 and the NCAA South Central Region meet in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022. No pets are allowed in the area.
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The Field: The field is overwhelmingly NCAA Division I schools, including Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and several other Texas schools. Oklahoma City was the lone NAIA entrant last season.
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