OSU cross country announces 2023 slate

STILLWATER — Three home meets, including the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships, highlight Oklahoma State’s 2023 cross country schedule.

The Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course will host two regular season meets to start the season in addition to hosting the 2023 NCAA Midwest Regional Championships for the first time since 2019.

The Cowboys and Cowgirls will open the season Sept. 1 at the Cowboy Preview before hosting the 85th annual Cowboy Jamboree on Sept. 23 in Stillwater. In each of the past two seasons, OSU has taken the top step of the podium at the Cowboy Jamboree, with Isai Rodriguez and Taylor Roe (2021) and Alex Maier and Natalie Cook (2022) taking home the individual victories.

OSU will then hit the road for consecutive meets as they travel to College Station, Texas, for the Arturo Barrios Invitational on Oct. 14 before traveling north to Ames, Iowa, for the Big 12 Cross Country Championships. The conference meet has been dominated by the Cowboys and Cowgirls in recent memory, with the Cowboys winning the last three and the Cowgirls the last two conference titles on the grass. Between the two squads, OSU has won 16 of the 31 Big 12 Championships coached by director of track and cross country Dave Smith.

The OSU teams will then return home for the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships on Nov. 10 before heading to the east coast for the NCAA Cross Country Championships at the University of Virginia on Nov. 18 in Charlottesville, Va.

The Cowboys are coming off an impressive 2022 campaign which saw them finish second at the NCAA Championships on the first tiebreaker in championship history. In the process, they earned their third straight podium finish and return a bevy of talent from last year’s squad. All-Americans Alex Maier, Fouad Messaoudi and Victor Shitsama lead the charge as they look to compete for the program’s fifth NCAA title.= Meanwhile, the Cowgirls are coming off their best season in program history after finishing fourth at the NCAA Championships and setting a record-setting 22 points at the conference meet. Cross country All-Americans Taylor Roe and Molly Born and track All-Americans Billah Jepkirui and Gabija Galvydyte each return to the squad as they look to compete for the program’s first NCAA title.

The Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course was opened in 2019 and is named after Don and Shellie Greiner, as well as Don’s father Ken, who have pledged a significant gift to Oklahoma State athletics.