Vikings cross country teams to have complete rosters for 2023

Third-year Carl Albert State College cross country coach Kristin Snyder will have complete full teams going into the 2023 season this fall.

The Vikings will have eight runners, with six of them sophomores — Caleb Burger (lives near Wister), Heavener’s Adam Gavina, Battiest’s Brady Billingsley, Atoka’s Rylan Cochran, Kiefer’s Jonathan Figueroa and Luther’s Brady Allen. The two freshmen are Wister’s Trey Knight and Battiest’s Brayden Stoval. Billingsley (196th), Berger (200th), Allen (206th), Gavina (213th) and Figueroa (218th) ran at the 2022 NJCAA National Championships in Tallahassee, Fla. As a team, the Vikings were 26th.

The Lady Vikings will have six runners, with only one returner, sophomore national qualifier Mikaylynn Camp from Stilwell — who placed 144th in last year’s national championship meet. The other five freshmen runners are Poteau’s Mackenzie Lingenfelter, Heavener’s Destiny Lawson, Fort Smith (Ark.) Southside’s Lin Li Dodd, Jay’s Jacie Moffatt and Luther’s Valeria Velasco.

Kristin Snyder

“I’m excited having six female runners,” Snyder said. “Five of them are going to be freshmen, so that’s exciting. This will be my first year to be able to score as a team for females because you have to have at least five, but you can have up to seven runners. The first five are the ones who score for you, unless there’s a tie (in which the sixth runner’s score is used to break the tie). With six runners, we’ll be able to score as a team.” Snyder has high hopes for Moffatt. “I have a girl from Jay (Moffatt) who is going to be phenomenal,” she said. “I’m excited that she’s going to get to run with us for two years. In the mile (1,600-meter run), she was second at state (Class 4A). At (the 2022 Class 4A) regionals, Jay won the cross country (state title), and she was second. She’s going to be a great leader for us and great asset.” The season-opening meet will be next Friday’s Bucks Season Opener at the University of Arkansas- Rich Mountain in Mena, Ark. — which just so happens to be the site of the 2023 NJCAA Regional Meet on Oct. 28.

“Depending upon how well we do there (2023 NJCAA Regional Meet), we’ll get to go to nationals this year,” Snyder said. “Last year, we got to go to nationals in Tallahassee. This year, nationals will be Huntsville, Ala.’

CASC’s home meet, the CASC/Poteau High School, is slated for Sept. 1.

“We’ll host our own meet on the Carl Albert campus (in Poteau),” said Snyder, who took over the program three years ago from Aaron Emberton, who was the inaugural CASC cross country coach when the program started seven years ago. “We do that in partnership with Poteau High School. First off, we’ll have our guys take off in their race — in college, the men run an 8k, so that ends up right at five miles, 4.9 miles. Then, the college women will start, and from there the high school and middle school teams. We’re enjoying that Friday. It’s a great day to have a lot of local schools come and compete.”

The CASC runners will go to two meets where not only two-year schools compete but four-year schools — some of which are NCAA Division I institutions — the Oklahoma State University Jamboree on Sept. 23 in Stillwater and the Chili Pepper Invitational on Sept. 29 at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

“Another race we did last year that was a lot of fun was the OSU Jamboree,” Snyder said. “When I signed us up for that race, there were supposed to be two heats, but they ended up not having a lot of schools. We were running against Stanford and the U.S. Navy, but that’s how you get to greatness — running against greatness. When you’re out there running, it is creating that mental fortitude. It lets you know what you can shoot for, so that was a fun experience last year. This course was absolutely phenomenal. It’s a multimillion dollar course they have created at OSU. It was a lot of fun, so we’re going back again this year. We usually always go to the Chili Pepper in Fayetteville. It’s a race that has been around for 100 years or more. It’s a great place to compete. They usually have two heats there (one for junior colleges/smaller colleges) at the college.”

Snyder said she can award a maximum of 10 cross country athletic scholarships to male and 10 to female, but there is run to expand her rosters well beyond that.

“I can have more runners than that because some of them are in the Scholar’s Program and not on an athletic scholarship — or you can have walk-ons,” she said. “My program has room for growth. I would love to have 20 or 30 (runners). I’d love to have teams of 15 (men)-15 (women) in case somebody gets injured or something else is going on. There is definitely room for growth.”

CASC’s cross country coach, a avid runner herself, could not be more proud of what her program can do for student-athletes, and not just from the athletic standpoint.

“One thing I really enjoy with the cross country program from a recruiting side is seeing those kids’ faces light up. I’ll ask them, ‘Hey, would you consider running in college?’ It’s the opportunity to reach out to our youth and say, ‘Hey, have you considered going to college?’ Some have not even thought of it or the financial ability. Carl Albert is that perfect door to get students to have an opportunity to create a career — something where they can financially support their family, do a career they love and add back to society. We have wonderful support at Carl Albert (State College) — our president (Jay Falkner) and athletic director (Jake Lords),” Snyder said.