STILLWATER, Okla. (Oct. 2, 2020) – For the first time in four years, Oklahoma Christian will compete on Saturday in one of the nation's oldest collegiate cross country events, the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree.

The Cowboy Jamboree first was run in 1937 and this year's edition will be the 82nd, but the first since 2017, as OSU did not host the event the past two years during construction of its new course, located on the northwest portion of the OSU campus. This year's race will be the first event held on the course since the 2018 NCAA Division I Midwest Regional.

OC last competed in the Cowboy Jamboree in 2016, so no current runners for the Eagles ever have competed on the course.

The Eagles opened their season last Friday in Grand Prairie, Texas, in the Orville Brown DBU XC Opener, hosted by Dallas Baptist. OC's women finished third among six teams, with three runners – junior Emma Davison, junior Kenya Bailey and junior Payton Duesing – finishing seconds apart in 13th, 14th and 15th place, respectively. Davison's time was 19:59.51 over the 5,000-meter course.

OC's men sent only four runners two the meet and two of them – junior Jelte van Atten (a career-best third in 26:19 over 8,000 meters) and senior Caleb Bozarth (fourth in 26:29.4) posted top-five finishes. Had the Eagles had a fifth runner, they probably would have won the team title in the DBU meet.

On Saturday, the men's 8,000-meter race will begin at 8:30 a.m., followed by the 6,000-meter women's race at 9:15 a.m. Fans will be able to follow the action live on Twitter if they follow @run4okstate, where updates will be posted.