NORMAN, Okla. (April 16, 2021) – There isn't much, at this stage of her running career, that Kelsey Castillo hasn't tried, but one thing the Oklahoma Christian senior hadn't done before Friday is run a 5,000-meter race on a track.

Turns out, she's pretty good at it. Castillo dueled with a University of Oklahoma runner all the way before falling in the final strides, but still posted a career-best time over 5K on a chilly, damp night in the Sooner Invitational at John Jacobs Track.

Castillo, from Edmond, and OU freshman Carson Hockersmith quickly went to the front of the five-woman field and there they stayed, lap after lap, with Castillo on her opponent's right shoulder, a half-stride behind. With four laps to go, Castillo eased ahead, with Hockersmith on her shoulder.

On the final lap, Castillo began opening up a small gap – perhaps five meters – but on the final curve, with about 100 meters left, Hockersmith found another gear and moved past Castillo, who didn't quite have enough left in the tank to respond.

Hockersmith won in 17:42.14, with Castillo almost exactly a second behind in 17:43.15. Castillo's time was almost 50 seconds faster than she'd ever recorded in any of her 5,000-meter collegiate cross country races for the Eagles.

Only a handful of other events were contested Friday in the meet consisting mostly of NCAA Division I competitors from schools like OU, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Utah State, Colorado State and Texas-Arlington (among others), along with a couple of Division II squads in OC and Central Oklahoma.

In the 100-meter preliminaries, sophomore Bryah Davis of Cedar Hill, Texas, advanced to Saturday's final by placing eighth out of 16 sprinters in 12.27 seconds, but OC freshman Atlanta Hopgood didn't advance, finishing 13 in 12.59 seconds.

In throwing events, Taelor Brown, a sophomore from Pawnee, was OC's top performer, finishing 13th of 19 in the hammer at 130 feet, 2 inches (39.69 meters) and 15th among 18 in the shot put at 39 feet, ¼ inch (11.89 meters).

Nikkita Addy, a freshman from Moore, also threw the hammer, with a top mark of 115 feet, 8 inches (35.26 meters), while Leah Oguntope, a freshman from Houston, had a top throw of 34 feet, 5 inches (10.49 meters) in the shot put.

The meet, which is not open to fans, will continue Saturday.