Friday, October 29
Stillwater, Okla.
All Day
Baylor
vs
Big 12 Championship
Cross Country Heads to Stillwater for Big 12 Championship
10/28/2021 11:35:00 AM | Cross Country
Men’s 8K will begin at 10 a.m. CT, followed by women’s 6K at 11 a.m. CT
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Coming off a "breakthrough performance" at Texas A&M's Arturo Barrios Invitational, Ryan Hodge is going into Friday's Big 12 Championship in Stillwater, Okla., with a confidence that he didn't have in his three previous seasons at Baylor.
"It's just been really tough medically, with a lot of stuff going on," said Hodge, who has dropped more than a minute off his previous-best 8,000-meter time, placing 13th at the A&M meet two weeks ago with a time of 23:57. "I'm super excited just to finally get a big PR. It's where I thought I should be, so to finally be able to put that on paper, is really motivating. I feel like I'm moving forward with a lot of confidence."
A redshirt junior from Mahomet, Ill., Hodge has led the Bears in the three meets he's run this season and heads a seven-person men's team for the 8K race that starts at 10 a.m. Friday at Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course. Freshmen Drew Snyder and Chris Martinez will join upperclassmen Alec Atteberry, Ryan Day, Kade Hulett and Philip Roxas.
"The championships are what matters in our sports," first-year Baylor head coach David Barnett said. "Everything that we've been doing is to peak this weekend and the (NCAA South Central Regional Nov. 12 at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course). I've always prided myself on helping people run their best in a championship."
Hodge said his goals are a top-5 finish for the team and a top-15 individual finish to become the Baylor men's first All-Big 12 performer in four years.
"I'd love to be All-Big 12," said Hodge, who was 56th at the Big 12 meet two years ago that Baylor hosted at Cottonwood Creek. "I think after last week, I have some confidence going in, just having a big PR. So, I'm feeling really good coming into this meet."
After struggling with injuries his first three years, Hodge said this summer was the first time he had been healthy for an extended period in many years.
"Going into the summer being healthy, and then having a total summer where I was healthy, I just had some confidence coming into (the season) of like, 'OK, I finally have my legs back under me,''' he said. "And once we started workouts, things just started to click.
"I really feel like it was just God's faithfulness. Throughout the last three years, I've just been kind of sticking it out. There were a lot of times where I could have backed down and quit, but I'm happy with where I am now, and hopefully there's more to come."
On the men's side, Iowa State is ranked No. 2, defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma State is No. 5 and Texas is No. 14. Baylor is 15th in the NCAA South Central Region rankings.
"A race like this, it's going to come down to your 3, 4 and 5 runners, those small races within the race," Barnett said. "So, we're excited about matching up and seeing what we can do. But, I think we can definitely beat some teams we've seen along the way, and I think we're going to have our best races."
Sophomore Lily Jacobs and South Dakota State grad transfer Ellie Friesen have been a consistent 1-2 for a much-deeper Baylor women's team that is ranked 11th regionally. The Bears will have a total of 10 runners competing in the women's 6K at 11 a.m., with freshmen Hayden Gold, Jordan Ledington, Devon Lopni, Taylor Whitfield and Alaina Zamora joining junior Chloe Gangnath and seniors Celia Holmes and Mazie Larsen.
"Hopefully, the team comes out of this where we want to be, in that middle pack of teams that we're competing against," Friesen said. "And if we can come out on top of that group, that would be great."
Friesen actually has run on the OSU course, finishing 69th at the NCAA Midwest Regional with a 6K time of 22:10.7 as a scoring runner for South Dakota State.
"Although it's been two years, I do kind of know what to expect," she said. "It would be comparable to the Missouri course in the sense of the hills, but this is definitely hillier than any of the courses we've raced this season, for sure."
At the Gans Creek Classic four weeks ago in Columbia, Mo., Friesen finished 26th with a time of 21:45.2, just two spots and two seconds behind Jacobs. She followed that up with a personal-best time of 21:30.3, finishing 36th at A&M's Arturo Barrios Invitational.
On the women's side, Oklahoma State is ranked No. 7 nationally and defending Big 12 champion Iowa State is 17th. Like Hodge, Friesen's goal is a top-15 finish and All-Big 12 honors.
"I have raced a lot of the Iowa State girls, being from the Midwest, so I kind of know where they will be," Friesen said. "And then also having Oklahoma State in the mix, and some of those top girls on the other teams, will be the women I'm racing against. I think it would be awesome to be all-conference."
While Friesen, Jacobs, Holmes and Gold should be in Baylor's top four, "our No. 5 runner is kind of up in the air right now," Barnett said.
"We have a lot of people competing for that fifth spot," he said, "so a little bit more depth on the women's side. . . . We've been able to stay relatively healthy, and I think people have been getting better and better each race. So, I think our best races are still ahead of us."
Live results from Friday's races will be available at Prime Time Timing, with the meet streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and shown on a tape-delay basis at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Following the Big 12 meet, Baylor will host the NCAA South Central Regional on Nov. 12 at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course.
For updates on Baylor cross country throughout the season, follow @BaylorTrack on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Baylor Bear Insider
Coming off a "breakthrough performance" at Texas A&M's Arturo Barrios Invitational, Ryan Hodge is going into Friday's Big 12 Championship in Stillwater, Okla., with a confidence that he didn't have in his three previous seasons at Baylor.
"It's just been really tough medically, with a lot of stuff going on," said Hodge, who has dropped more than a minute off his previous-best 8,000-meter time, placing 13th at the A&M meet two weeks ago with a time of 23:57. "I'm super excited just to finally get a big PR. It's where I thought I should be, so to finally be able to put that on paper, is really motivating. I feel like I'm moving forward with a lot of confidence."
A redshirt junior from Mahomet, Ill., Hodge has led the Bears in the three meets he's run this season and heads a seven-person men's team for the 8K race that starts at 10 a.m. Friday at Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course. Freshmen Drew Snyder and Chris Martinez will join upperclassmen Alec Atteberry, Ryan Day, Kade Hulett and Philip Roxas.
"The championships are what matters in our sports," first-year Baylor head coach David Barnett said. "Everything that we've been doing is to peak this weekend and the (NCAA South Central Regional Nov. 12 at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course). I've always prided myself on helping people run their best in a championship."
Hodge said his goals are a top-5 finish for the team and a top-15 individual finish to become the Baylor men's first All-Big 12 performer in four years.
"I'd love to be All-Big 12," said Hodge, who was 56th at the Big 12 meet two years ago that Baylor hosted at Cottonwood Creek. "I think after last week, I have some confidence going in, just having a big PR. So, I'm feeling really good coming into this meet."
After struggling with injuries his first three years, Hodge said this summer was the first time he had been healthy for an extended period in many years.
"Going into the summer being healthy, and then having a total summer where I was healthy, I just had some confidence coming into (the season) of like, 'OK, I finally have my legs back under me,''' he said. "And once we started workouts, things just started to click.
"I really feel like it was just God's faithfulness. Throughout the last three years, I've just been kind of sticking it out. There were a lot of times where I could have backed down and quit, but I'm happy with where I am now, and hopefully there's more to come."
On the men's side, Iowa State is ranked No. 2, defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma State is No. 5 and Texas is No. 14. Baylor is 15th in the NCAA South Central Region rankings.
"A race like this, it's going to come down to your 3, 4 and 5 runners, those small races within the race," Barnett said. "So, we're excited about matching up and seeing what we can do. But, I think we can definitely beat some teams we've seen along the way, and I think we're going to have our best races."
Sophomore Lily Jacobs and South Dakota State grad transfer Ellie Friesen have been a consistent 1-2 for a much-deeper Baylor women's team that is ranked 11th regionally. The Bears will have a total of 10 runners competing in the women's 6K at 11 a.m., with freshmen Hayden Gold, Jordan Ledington, Devon Lopni, Taylor Whitfield and Alaina Zamora joining junior Chloe Gangnath and seniors Celia Holmes and Mazie Larsen.
"Hopefully, the team comes out of this where we want to be, in that middle pack of teams that we're competing against," Friesen said. "And if we can come out on top of that group, that would be great."
Friesen actually has run on the OSU course, finishing 69th at the NCAA Midwest Regional with a 6K time of 22:10.7 as a scoring runner for South Dakota State.
"Although it's been two years, I do kind of know what to expect," she said. "It would be comparable to the Missouri course in the sense of the hills, but this is definitely hillier than any of the courses we've raced this season, for sure."
At the Gans Creek Classic four weeks ago in Columbia, Mo., Friesen finished 26th with a time of 21:45.2, just two spots and two seconds behind Jacobs. She followed that up with a personal-best time of 21:30.3, finishing 36th at A&M's Arturo Barrios Invitational.
On the women's side, Oklahoma State is ranked No. 7 nationally and defending Big 12 champion Iowa State is 17th. Like Hodge, Friesen's goal is a top-15 finish and All-Big 12 honors.
"I have raced a lot of the Iowa State girls, being from the Midwest, so I kind of know where they will be," Friesen said. "And then also having Oklahoma State in the mix, and some of those top girls on the other teams, will be the women I'm racing against. I think it would be awesome to be all-conference."
While Friesen, Jacobs, Holmes and Gold should be in Baylor's top four, "our No. 5 runner is kind of up in the air right now," Barnett said.
"We have a lot of people competing for that fifth spot," he said, "so a little bit more depth on the women's side. . . . We've been able to stay relatively healthy, and I think people have been getting better and better each race. So, I think our best races are still ahead of us."
Live results from Friday's races will be available at Prime Time Timing, with the meet streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and shown on a tape-delay basis at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Following the Big 12 meet, Baylor will host the NCAA South Central Regional on Nov. 12 at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course.
For updates on Baylor cross country throughout the season, follow @BaylorTrack on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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