WACO, Texas - Oklahoma State's men's cross country team finished fourth at the Big 12 Championships in Waco, Texas, on Friday.
The Cowboys, led by junior standout Joe Gray, finished with a team score of 92. Gray finished 12th in the race with a time of 24:21 and fellow junior Mike Devenport finished 15th with a time of 24:25. Rounding out the top five for the Pokes were sophomore David Jankowski in 17th, freshman Ryan Vail in 19th, and senior Sean McCabe in 29th.
The Cowboys, ranked No. 25 in the national polls this week, finished the race behind the other three nationally ranked teams in the conference. Third-ranked Colorado finished first with a team score of 44, marking the 10th straight year that the Buffaloes have won the meet. Ninth-ranked Texas finished in second-place with a team score of 52 and No. 13 Kansas, led by the Individual first-place finisher Benson Chesang, rounded out the top-three with a score of 68.
Chesang, a junior, finished with a time of 23:45 to capture his second straight individual title. Texas' Joe Thorne and Erik Stanley rounded out the top three.
"Overall, we ran a good race today," said Cowboy assistant coach Dave Smith. "Looking back, it just turned into a tough four-team dual and we got beat by some very good teams."
The Cowboys will now have a week off before heading to Iowa City, Iowa, to compete in the NCAA Regionals.
"We have got our work cut out for us," said Smith. "We know going into Regionals that we are going to have to beat some good teams to secure a national bid."
School Score 1. Colorado 44; 2. Texas 52; 3. Kansas 68; 4. Oklahoma State 92; 5. Missouri 182; 6. Iowa State 188; 7. Texas A&M 202; 8. Kansas State 234; 9. Texas Tech 246; 10. Nebraska 288; 11. Oklahoma 291; 12. Baylor 346;
Individual School Time 1. Benson Chesang Kansas, 23:45; 2. Joe Thorne Texas, 23:48; 3. Erik Stanley Texas, 23:51; 4. Kevin Chelimo Texas Tech 23:56; 5. Stephen Pifer Colorado 23:56; 6. Bret Schoolmeester Colorado 24:06; 7. Kiel Uhl Iowa State 24:06; 8. James Strang Colorado 24:11; 9. Billy Nelson Colorado 24:16; 10. Colby Wissel Kansas 24:20; 12. Joe Gray Oklahoma State 24:21; 15. Mike Devenport Oklahoma State 24:25; 17. David Jankowski Oklahoma State 24:27; 19. Ryan Vail Oklahoma State 24:31; 29. Sean McCabe Oklahoma State 24:52;