CHICKASHA —
The Drover women came in second to conference foe Oklahoma City in the Oklahoma City Open on Saturday, led once again by Brittni Kent, who was the second female to cross the finish line.
Kent, who came in second to Oklahoma Wesleyan's Allie Antrim, posted a time of 21:24.95 for the five-kilometer race. Not far behind her was Beatriz Rey, who came in sixth with a time of 22:22.13.
Also finishing in the top 10 were freshman Deborah Park and senior Tabby Bailey, who came in seconds apart with times of 24:00.33 and 24:03.03 respectively.
USAO's team average was 23:48.42. The small race had just 22 female racers.
While athletes from OWU, Southwestern Christian and Bacone College also competed, they didn't have enough athletes to qualify for team awards.
The Drovers next meet will be Saturday at the Oklahoma State University Jamboree.
Men improve in OCU meet
The Drover’s cross country team saw improvements on split times at Saturday’s race, hosted by Oklahoma City University.
Freshman Jeffrey Poolaw was USAO’s top runner for the second meet in a row. Poolaw, who posted a time of 19:32.76 for the five-kilometer race, came in 13th among the racers.
Junior Matthew Crow made his cross country debut having joined after the first meet and came in second on the team with a time of 19.59.13. Crow had never competed in cross country before.
Kieran Brennan was the team’s third racer to finish. He had a time of 21:43.56.
But it was the splits that were the story for the Drovers on Saturday. Some runners improved their split time, including Poolaw and Chisum Lane, who improved his time by nearly 30 seconds a kilometer.
USAO’s team average was 21:06.80. The small race had just 22 male racers.
The Drovers ended the race third to Oklahoma City and Southwestern Christian.
The Drovers next meet will be Saturday at the Oklahoma State University Jamboree.
Kent earns conference award
Brittni Kent became the first USAO runner to be named a Sooner Athletic Conference Runner of the Week this week.
Kent finished second in the Oklahoma City Fall Classic on Saturday, beating out 20 other runners in the race. She posted a time of 21:24.95, seconds before OCU’s lead runner.
Kent, a junior from Sapulpa, was USAO’s top runner in both the meets the Drovers have competed in this season. It is the first season for the cross country program.
Kent is also a member of the women’s soccer team and has played for the Drovers for three years now.
She is a biology and psychology junior. She is the daughter of Steve and Darby Kent.
The Drovers next meet will be Saturday at the OSU Jamboree.
