SAN ANGELO, Texas (Oct. 30, 2020) – In the tumult of the 2020 cross country season – one that, like most everything in society, has been significantly altered by the COVID-19 pandemic – there is the potential for a positive ending for Oklahoma Christian's women's team.
With a top-six team finish in the Lone Star Conference Championship race, the Eagles would have the rare opportunity to run in the closest thing there will be to a NCAA Division II national meet this season. With that carrot within reach, OC's six-woman team will toe the line on the 6,000-meter Angelo State course at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Per LSC policy, fans will not be allowed to attend.
The race will be streamed on the LSC Digital Network both online (
www.lonestarconferencenetwork.com) and via OTT apps on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku devices free of charge. After the race, the awards presentation will be streamed at about 11:30 a.m.
"I think that we're ready for a good, competitive race," OC coach
Wade Miller said. "They have done a really good job of training consistently. They are working well together. They have established groups that they can work with within workouts and that can give them confidence in the race, when they're running with their training partners. They are a good, close-knit group that's enjoyed spending time with one another."
OC's 2020 schedule looked nothing like Miller thought it would at the start of the summer. With most meets cancelled due to the pandemic, the Eagles ran in only three events, and only one of those was against LSC opponents – the season-opening meet on Sept. 25, hosted by Dallas Baptist (Texas). OC subsequently ran against NCAA Division I opponents (several of the elite variety) in two meets hosted by Oklahoma State.
Running against Division I opponents "kind of changes the race they run," Miller said. "The spot in the field they were in in those D1 races was further back, relative to the pack, than they will be at the conference meet. They were running together moreso than being in the top pack of the race. The course they ran at OSU is pretty challenging and knowing that you were able to run well over that course gives us some confidence."
The Eagles' top runner this season has been junior
Kenya Bailey of Ponca City, Okla. She is one of only four returning All-LSC runners from last season's league meet in Silver City, N.M., in which she finished 14th. The top 15 finishers will make this year's All-LSC team.
Emma Davison of Mason City, Iowa, a junior-college transfer, has emerged as OC's No. 2 runner, with juniors
Payton Duesing of Lantana, Texas, and
Caroline Schwab of Andover, Kan., close behind. All three, plus Bailey, ran in the top 20 in the Dallas Baptist meet, which included runners from seven LSC programs.
Sophomores
Katie Dallimore of Paola, Kan., and
Faith Lloyd of Ardmore, Okla., will round out the OC roster for the LSC race.
"Kenya's been leading. She's out there a little bit," Miller said. "The middle three (Davison, Duesing and Schwab) have been training well together. That could flip around or they could run together."
Lubbock Christian (Texas) is the defending champion in the 15-team race. In a national coaches' poll – which is taking the place this fall of one usually produced by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association – Dallas Baptist is atop the LSC rankings, followed by Texas A&M International, West Texas A&M, Western New Mexico, Midwestern State (Texas) and OC.
With the NCAA having already cancelled the Division II regional and national championship races, what's being billed as the "Division II XC National Invitational" will be held in Lubbock, Texas, on Nov. 14. The top teams from each of the eight Division II leagues competing in cross country this fall – including the LSC – will receive invitations. Qualifying for that meet is a realistic goal for the Eagles, Miller said.
"I'm excited about the conference meet," he said. "They're in a position to race well and they know that. It should be fun. There are a lot of unknowns … but I think we should shoot to finish in that top tier."
