Men finish 3rd, women 7th in Oklahoma meet

The IU men’s cross country team finished a strong third in the 72nd Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree men’s 8K race Saturday, with five Hoosiers finishing in the top 30.

The IU women’s team finished seventh, with junior Wendi Robinson finishing fifth out of 218 runners.

For the men, senior Brennon Plotner ran a season-best 24:41 to finish 14th in a field of 244. He was followed closely by teammates Timothy McLeod and Ben Hubers, who finished 15th and 16th with times of 24:47 and 24:28, respectively.

“We had Ben in the group today, and he ran like we thought he would,” said IU coach Ron Helmer in a press release. “With Tim McLeod running where and how we knew he could and with Brennon running well, I’m happy with how those three competed today.”

Sophomore Cole Hardacre and freshman Andrew Poore finished 23rd and 30th.

The Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree was the Hoosiers’ first road trip of the year. The event, the oldest cross country race in the nation, featured more than 100 teams and 5,500 participants overall. The hosts, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, ranked No. 2 in the nation heading into the weekend, finished first with runners placing in third, fourth and fifth.

On the women’s side, sophomore Sarah Pease finished 17th, and freshman Chelsea Blanchard finished 33rd.

“Wendi had a very good and solid run,” Helmer said in a separate release. “Sarah really had a breakout day and probably had one of her best runs yet. With a tough field, she just ran really well.

“Chelsea took another step forward today. The good thing is now that we’ve had good, solid races from this group, we’re starting to get more consistent.”

Northern Arizona took first in the women’s race, with both Veronica Pohl and Astrid Leutert finishing in the top 10.

The Hoosiers will race again in Terre Haute on Oct. 18 in the Pre-Nationals event.