by SHAWNEE, Okla. – Oklahoma City University sets out to earn the Sooner Athletic Conference men’s cross country title for the third year in a row at 10:45 a.m. Saturday at Gordon Cooper Technology Center.
The two-time defending national champion Stars, ranked second in NAIA men’s cross country, will aim to capture the league’s team berth into the NAIA Championships. The top 15 runners will earn all-conference honors and entry into the national meet Nov. 21 in Charlotte, N.C.
The Stars are led by senior Arya Bahreini, of Edmond, Okla., who placed third in last year’s SAC Championships and took all-SAC honors for the third time.
Reno Blum, David Mountford, Michael Vercoe-Curtis and Mackenzie Wahpepah-Harris (Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma) look to add additional all-conference accolades.
“The older boys know from experience what to expect on Saturday, and it will give the younger boys an opportunity to race against the rest of the conference,” OCU head coach Conor Holt said.
“The race field is considerably smaller, and that always plays into the team score and race tactics. We have clear defined goals on how we will race.”
Wayland Baptist (Texas) is the only other team ranked at 14th, while Texas Wesleyan and Bacone received votes in the latest poll.
The Stars last raced in the NAIA Mid-States Classic on Oct. 24 in Winfield, Kan., and won handedly. Six runners finished in the top 10 and 11 runners recorded new personal-record times. Bahreini paced the Stars in second place and set a new school record in time.
Mountford, a junior from Shotton, Wales, placed third at the NAIA Mid-States Classic, while Vercoe-Curtis followed in fifth place. Wahpepah-Harris, a junior from Norman, Okla., turned in a sixth-place finish, while Blum, a senior from Tahlequah, Okla., trailed in seventh. Chris Ebert, a freshman from Edmond, Okla., rounded out the Stars’ effort in eighth place.
Oklahoma City won the Central Oklahoma Land Run to start the 2015 season on Sept. 5 in Edmond, Okla., behind Bahreini’s individual win. Wahpepah-Harris followed in second place, while Vercoe-Curtis, a sophomore from Auckland, New Zealand, finished sixth. Ebert took eighth place and Blum posted a 16th-place finish.
OCU also placed fifth at the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree on Sept. 26 in Stillwater, Okla., and finished third in the Fort Hays State Tiger Open on Oct. 10 in Hays, Kan.
“To win championships, you need seven solid runners, and we have that,” said Holt. “Of course, we look to Saturday to continue to solidify our individual and team goals that we set for this year. Everyone has a job to do, and my expectations are we do it really well.”
