LAWTON, Okla. (Sept. 10, 2021) – Kenya Bailey and her Oklahoma Christian cross country teammates didn't wait to begin enjoying success as the 2021 season opened on Friday.

Bailey posted her first collegiate win – by more than a minute – and OC placed four runners in the top 10 to win the team title in Cameron's Aggie Duels, raced on a fast course at the Big Green Soccer Complex on a mild morning.

A junior from Ponca City who's already a three-time All-Conference honoree, Bailey quickly jetted out to a wide lead and kept extending it over the course of the 5,000-meter race. Her time of 17:59.89 was more than 37 seconds better than her career best in cross country for that distance and she finished 64 seconds ahead of the runner-up, Victoria Rosas of Midwestern State (Texas).

Bailey gave the Eagles their first individual win in a cross country race since Oct. 8, 2015, when former OC star Layne Hammer won the Midwestern State Invitational in Wichita Falls, Texas. That also was the last time before Friday that the Eagles won the team title in any meet.

With 34 team points, OC downed Lone Star Conference rival Midwestern State, which had 48. Southwestern Oklahoma State was third in the seven-team field with 62, while another LSC team, Cameron, tied for fourth with Northwestern Oklahoma State at 138.

As good as Bailey was on Friday, the biggest news for the Eagles might have been the performance of their other runners. Junior Caroline Schwab of Andover, Kan., finished fourth in the 64-woman field in 19:05.85. Not far behind were fellow juniors Emma Davison of Mason City, Iowa (seventh in 19:13.49) and Payton Duesing of Lantana, Texas (10th in 19:20.12). All three ran career-best 5K cross country times and Duesing and Schwab each posted her first collegiate top-10 finish.

In her first collegiate race, freshman Madison Coskey of Brenham, Texas, just missed a top-10 finish, placing 12th in 19:33.20 but giving her team a solid score as its No. 5 runner.

The Eagles' other finishers were senior Rebeca Morales of Riverside, Calif. (23rd in 20:38.29) and junior Janaya McIntosh of Ganado, Ariz. (29th in 21:15.29).

The course was the same one on which the LSC Championship race will be held on Oct. 23.

"Our team has been working really well together since we started school and put together a nice start to the race season," OC coach Wade Miller said. "It was good to get a read on the course that will host the Lone Star Conference meet in late October and it was good to capitalize on the positive atmosphere that the ladies are cultivating. We are looking forward to improving our race execution and race fitness and building momentum toward championship season."

The Eagles' next meet will be the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree, to be run on the challenging OSU Cross Country Course in Stillwater on Sept. 18.