Maier, Cook, and Cowgirls as a Team win Cowboy Jamboree
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State men's and women's cross country competed in the 84th Cowboy Jamboree on Saturday at the Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course, highlighted by individual victories from Natalie Cook, Alex Maier and a team win for the Cowgirls.
The Cowgirls kicked things off with their first victory of the season and tenth all-time at the Jamboree, defeating 10 top-25 teams in the process. They defeated second-place No. 22 Northern Arizona by 19 points, thanks in large part to Natalie Cook and Taylor Roe finishing first and second overall.
"I thought all the women ran a strategically perfect race," Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Dave Smith said. "I think at 1K, we were in 12th place… Tactically, it was executed perfectly. I'm really, really proud of the way they ran."
Freshman Natalie Cook took the victory in her first career collegiate race with a time of 20:17.1, which is the sixth-fastest 6K time recorded the new iteration of the Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course and seventh-fastest 6K time in program history. Her victory was also the fifth overall by a Cowgirl in Cowboy Jamboree history.
"She's obviously very talented and very competitive," Smith said. "Having Taylor (Roe) there to help chaperone her through, we knew we had two women who would probably finish in the top five. Any given day, those two women can flip flop who's going to be ahead and who's going to be behind. I think there was a little bit of sibling rivalry there in the last 200 (meters). Taylor will come back next time with something to prove."
After finishing the first 1K of the race in 25th place, All-American Taylor Roe steadily climbed the leaderboard to finish right behind Cook in second place, clocking a time of 20:20.8.
Gabby Hentemann and freshman Billah Jepkirui also showed out, finishing in the top-15 with times of 20:40.5 and 20:44.2, respectively, to help the Cowgirls secure their first Jamboree title since 2015.
Rounding out the scorers for OSU was Sivan Auerbach, who finished 40th overall with a time of 21:10.8.
Several Cowgirl freshmen ran unattached in their first career races, with Jinane Mahi, Cayden Dawson and Anne Gine Lovnes, who all finished in the top-75.
On the men's side, Alex Maier made a statement on Saturday in the 8K, winning the individual title over a loaded field by 2.1 seconds overall with a time of 23:16.9. He earned the second-fastest time in Jamboree history, behind teammate Isai Rodriguez's time of 23:05.08 at last year's Jamboree.
"He doesn't get a lot of respect," Smith said. "People don't recognize how good he is and how well he's done recently. I think that field today contained maybe half of the men that have a chance to win the individual national championship and he handled them pretty well."
Victor Shitsama also ran an impressive, tactical race, earning a third-place finish after being outside the top 50 for much of the first half. He topped his career best by almost seven seconds with a time of 23:20.5, which ranks fourth all-time in Jamboree history.
"Victor run's this course better than any man or woman I've ever seen," Smith said. "He might not be the fastest guy, but he maximizes his race every single time. He must just love this course because he knows how to run it."
The Cowboys also had solid performances from Rory Leonard, who placed 17th with a time of 23:44.8 and Jonas Price, who finished 43rd with a time of 24:06.5.
Rounding out the scorers for the Cowboys was Will Muirhead, who finished 55th overall with a time of 24:11.5.
Overall, the Cowboys earned a fourth-place finish in the team race, with the nation's top four teams taking the top four slots at the Jamboree.
"I thought the men looked really, really good," Smith said. "Obviously, (Alex) Maier and Victor (Shitsama) were incredible. Rory (Leonard) was solid. Will Muirhead had a great day. Alex Stitt was good. We got some good performances in that back end."
Up next for the Cowboys and Cowgirls is the Weis-Crockett Invitational on Oct. 15 in Stillwater.