MINNEAPOLIS – University of Oklahoma juniors Jessica Eldridge and Jason Coleman led the Sooners with finishes of 19th and 55th, respectively, at the 21st Annual Roy Griak Cross Country Invitational Saturday.
Eldridge, who was suffering from the effects of flu-like symptoms, raced the women's 6,000-meter course in 21 minutes, 54 seconds, a 5:53-mile pace. Her efforts helped the Sooner women to 14th overall, with 426 points, among 28 teams.
Eldridge was the top-finishing individual out of the six Big 12 Conference member teams in the field.
UC-Santa Barbara seniors Stephanie Rothstein (21:13) and Lauren Christman (21:13) finished a remarkable 1-2 to help the Gauchos to the overall team win with 87 points.
OU freshman Ashley Storm (23:01) turned in an impressive performance, placing 82nd out of 288 and second among the Sooners. She was followed by Catherine Odell (83rd, 23:03), Aja Clark (125th, 23:40) and Kristi Cook (167th, 24:09).
Coleman concluded the men's 10,000-meter run in 25:53, a 5:13-mile pace, to push the Sooner men to 22nd out of 34 teams with 614 points.
The University of Arizona , scoring 142, was tops on the men's team standings.
OU freshman Rob Sorrell (26:30) placed 133rd out of 301 runners. He was followed by Sooner scorers Matt Daniels (137th, 26:32), Jon Grey (139th, 26:32) and Jason Penland (208th, 27:20).
The OU men next compete Saturday, Oct. 7, at the Penn State Invitational in University Park , Pa. The OU women run Saturday, Oct. 14, at the Pre-National Meet in Terre Haute , Ind. , hosted by Indiana State University .