LAWTON, Okla. (Sept. 10, 2021) – With three of his projected top five runners not competing in Oklahoma Christian's season-opening cross country meet on Friday morning, coach Wade Miller was looking to see who would fill those open spots.

The good news for the Eagles is there were no shortage of candidates to complement a 1-2 individual finish by OC's Colten Brown and Colton Meyers in the Aggie Duels at the Big Green Soccer Complex. As a result, OC held off meet host and Lone Star Conference rival Cameron to win the title in the six-team race. The Eagles posted a team score of 40, with the Aggies at 51. Northwestern Oklahoma State took third at 77.

OC recorded its first team win since Oct. 12, 2019, when the Eagles won the South Central Regional Preview race in Canyon, Texas. That also was the last time an OC runner took an individual title, with current junior Owen Pearce winning that race.

Brown, a sophomore from Boise City, and Meyers, a senior from Allen, Texas, are OC's two returning All-LSC runners and they dueled for much of the 8,000-meter race (on the course that will be the site of the LSC Championship race in October) before Brown pulled away late to win in 24:22.84. Meyers, who finished in 24:35.99, held off Cameron senior Saulo Yoel (24:57.65) for second in the 51-man field.

It was the first time OC runners had finished 1-2 in a cross country race since Oct. 24, 2015, when Brennym Kaelin and Roberto Diaz took the top two spots in Laredo, Texas, in the Heartland Conference Championship meet, which the Eagles won in a landslide.

Four of OC's six runners Friday posted career-best times for 8,000-meter cross country, all by significant margins. Brown's time was 58 seconds better than his previous best, while Meyers shaved more than 48 seconds off his top time. Junior Kolten Johnson of Lewisburg, Tenn., was 13th in 26:24.33, more than 24 seconds faster than his previous best time, and sophomore Austin McNair cut a whopping 1:19 off his career best, finishing 15th in 26:51.14.

Two Eagles ran their first collegiate cross country races – freshman Griffin Chesire of Eldoret, Kenya (ninth in 25:56.16) and freshman Christian Fair of Stillwater (20th in 27:29.40).

"Overall, it was nice to see a lot of hard work over the summer months pay off today," OC coach Wade Miller said. "It was great to get the season started and see where everyone is at. We were strong late in the race, but still have some work to do mid-race to keep a tighter pack. We have some great opportunities for growth in our upcoming schedule and need to capitalize on putting a more complete race together."

The Eagles will race again in eight days, competing in the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree on the challenging OSU Cross Country Course in Stillwater.