LUBBOCK, Texas (Nov. 13, 2020) – The 2020 cross country season wasn't going to look like anything Oklahoma Christian's men's program had experienced before, but with a promising group of runners, coach Wade Miller wanted to make sure the Eagles continued to develop and grow in their craft.

There were COVID-19 protocols to be met just to race on unfamiliar (but challenging) courses, twice against top-shelf NCAA Division I competition, along with a six-hour trip to a course where fans weren't allowed for a conference meet. Not to mention, there was the knowledge there would be no NCAA Division II postseason opportunities, due to the pandemic.

Through it all, though, the Eagles persevered and made the most of a difficult situation, and it turns out there is a reward of sorts at the end – the chance to compete against many of Division II's top teams. OC will run Saturday morning in the 10,000-meter Division II XC National Invitational at the Chaparral Ridge Cross Country Course in Lubbock, Texas, qualifying as the Lone Star Conference runner-up.

"We talked about using this as a season for growth and despite not having a national meet, we still have good opportunities to race on some really phenomenal courses and against some really, really, really high competition," Miller said. "In order to progress as a program, we needed to still continue to take advantages of the challenges we had available to us."

OC's lineup will include sophomore Colten Brown of Boise City, Okla.; senior Colton Meyers of Allen, Texas; junior Jelte van Atten of Leiden, Netherlands; sophomore Owen Pearce of Kingman, Kan.; senior Caleb Bozarth of Bakersfield, Calif.; junior Nick Parizek of Oklahoma City; and sophomore Kolten Johnson of Lewisburg, Tenn. Brown and Meyers earned All-LSC honors, finishing fifth and seventh, respectively, at the league meet.

It's a group of runners that Miller hopes to have back for the 2021 season, as the NCAA isn't charging fall-sports student-athletes with a season of eligibility in 2020.

"I see this as being one of those really good opportunities to race some teams we have to beat, from a regional perspective in the future, in order to advance to nationals, and some teams that year in and year out have been strong cross country programs," Miller said. "We still get to test ourselves and gain really valuable, big-race, high-competition experience. That's always really important for teams that are trying to improve."

Not knowing if there even would be a season, many of OC's runners gathered in Colorado this summer for both training and team bonding. The Eagles didn't know until Aug. 7 that they would be competing, and as it turns out, they would be in the minority – only eight of Division II's 23 conferences opted to race in the fall.

With most of the meets OC usually raced in cancelled, Miller had to build a schedule on the fly. Dallas Baptist (Texas) hosted one in late September, although the Eagles couldn't field a full team for that event. Oklahoma State, a nearby Division I power, decided to host a pair of meets on its course – one of the nation's best – and OC was allowed to compete in both races as the only Division II team in the field.

The benefits of the experience gained while racing against elite Division I teams clearly were evident in the LSC Championship race, contested two weeks ago in San Angelo, Texas. The Eagles put a brief scare into longtime LSC kingpin West Texas A&M before eventually finishing a solid second behind the Buffaloes, well clear of third-place Texas-Tyler.

After the LSC race, OC moved into the Division II coaches' poll at No. 15. Although only four of the eight conferences that ran this fall will be represented in the field Saturday, there will be five ranked squads in the 12-team field – No. 3 Alabama-Huntsville of the Gulf South Conference, No. 9 West Texas A&M and OC from the LSC and No. 12 Nebraska-Kearney and No. 14 Northwest Missouri State of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.

Rounding out the field will be Colorado Mesa and Fort Lewis of the RMAC; Dallas Baptist, Texas-Tyler, Texas A&M-Commerce and Western New Mexico of the LSC and Washburn (Kan.) of the MIAA. Some of the RMAC's top teams – including No. 1 Colorado School of Mines, No. 2 Western Colorado, No. 5 Colorado Christian, No. 6 Adams State (Colo.) and No. 9 Colorado-Colorado Springs – have opted to bypass the meet.

Also included in the field will be 14 individual runners from Cameron, Lubbock Christian, St. Edward's (Texas) and Texas A&M International of the LSC, South Dakota Mines and Westminster (Utah) of the RMAC, West Georgia of the Gulf South, Indianapolis (Ind.) of the Great Lakes Valley Conference and Missouri Western, Newman (Kan.) and Rogers State of the MIAA.
 
"I don't think we'll be intimidated," Miller said. "I think we'll go out and compete to the best of our abilities and not let any kind of anxiety or nerves get to us.

"It's important that we're patient early on, with the additional distance. With the 10K, you can't get out too quick or you'll pay for that late in the race. We've got to be patient and find a good position early on that we can work up off of. I think each race we've done a little bit better job of that, so I'm pleased with the guys exercising that ability. I think we're in a position to do the same, to maximize our abilities, at (this) meet."