STILLWATER, Okla. -- The Thunderbird men's and women's cross country teams opened their 2020-21 campaign on Saturday morning at the Oklahoma State Invitational, where the Lady T-Birds secured a second place finish, while the men finished in fourth.
The competition was the first for Southern Utah University Athletics since last March.
"What a great way to return to competition, running against the best in the country," SUU head coach Eric Houle said. "We could have picked a meet that we could have won to pat everyone on the back, but we have to pick competitions that are going to force us to raise the bar. You go after the best, that's how dreams come true."
Alison Pray led the charge for the women's team, finishing in fifth place with a time of 21:09.5. Pray is coming off a 2019 campaign that concluded with her qualifying for the NCAA XC National Championships.
"That's exactly what I thought she was capable of doing," Houle said of Pray's performance. "She's one of the best in the country, and now it's a process to get her there. You have to run in this kind of competition in order to raise the bar."
Julieta Navarrete-Lamas secured the 11th overall spot with a time of 21:47.9, finishing second for the Thunderbirds.
Raquel Chavez (22:06.6), Madisan DeBos (22:15.3), Madison Fruchey (22:53.4) and Aviry Stratton (22:56.6) rounded out the lineup for Southern Utah.
Southern Utah finished second to only Brigham Young University, who ended the 2019 season as the No. 2 team in the NCAA according to the USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll.
"To beat the teams we did was a confidence boost for the whole team, and shows where the program is," Houle added.
On the men's side, Christian Ricketts crossed the finish line for the Thunderbirds first, clocking in at 24:20.8. That time put him in 17th place. Nate Osterstock wasn't too far behind, finishing in 20th place with a 24:24.7.
In the No. 22 and 23 spots, Travis Feeny and Aidan Reed finished incredibly close at 24:31.4 and 24:31.9.
Stefen Rasmuson secured the fifth spot for the T-Birds, running a 24:45.1 to finish in 28th. Santiago Gaitan took the 31st overall spot with a time of 24:51.4
Thomas Grant (25:20.8) and Isaiah Labra (25:49.5) rounded out the competition for the Thunderbirds.
"This meet allows them to test what they're capable of doing," Houle said of the men's side. "It builds the confidence that the training is working and will set them up for years to come."
Northern Arizona, Oklahoma State and BYU finished ahead of Southern Utah in the competition. Brigham Young was the 2019 NCAA National Champions, while Northern Arizona finished as the runner-up. Oklahoma State is projected to be amongst the top teams in the NCAA this season as well.
At this point the Thunderbirds don't have another meet on their schedule, but Pray mentioned that no matter what happens next, this meet has set them up for success.
"I think it was really good for us to get out and get a race in after so long," she said. "It'll help drive us to keep pushing it in workouts and have something to push towards."
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