The 2022 Cowboy Jamboree, hosted by Oklahoma State, saw eight top-10 men's cross country teams and six top-10 women's cross country teams compete in the biggest invitational of the season...so far. Here's what you may have missed.
Elite teams in action
Here are the ranked teams in 2022's Cowboy Jamboree:
Men
- No. 1 Northern Arizona
- No. 2 Oklahoma State
- No. 3 Stanford
- No. 4 BYU
- No. 5 Colorado
- No. 6 Tulsa
- No. 8 Washington
- No. 9 Wake Forest
- No. 11 Air Force
- No. 15 Harvard
- No. 16 Gonzaga
- No. 20 Syracuse
- No. 21 Princeton
- No. 23 Furman
- No. 24 Ole Miss
- No. 29 Texas
Women
- No. 3 Colorado
- No. 3 Oklahoma State
- No. 5 Stanford
- No. 6 Washington
- No. 7 BYU
- No. 9 Arkansas
- No. 12 Michigan
- No. 17 Ole Miss
- No. 20 Harvard
- No. 22 NAU
- No. 27 Utah Valley
- No. 29 Kentucky
Of those teams, nine were ranked first in their region entering the invitational. With the top two teams from each region automatically advancing to the NCAA championships, the Cowboy Jamboree was loaded with championship-caliber teams.
Women's 6K results
The women took the course first, running a 6K at the Cowboy Jamboree. No. 3 Oklahoma State defended its home course thanks to a 69-point win. A 1-2 finish powered the Cowgirls to the win, outpacing second-place finisher No. 22 Northern Arizona by 19 points. Here's a breakdown of the top 10 finishing teams.
| Place | Team | Points | Finishers (First five) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma State | 69 | 1, 2, 12, 15, 39 |
| 2 | Northern Arizona | 88 | 5, 6, 22, 27, 28 |
| 3 | BYU | 111 | 4, 13, 18, 35, 41 |
| 4 | Colorado | 155 | 11, 16, 17, 55, 56 |
| 5 | Stanford | 171 | 20, 26, 33, 38, 54 |
| 6 | Syracuse | 175 | 9, 31, 32, 45, 58 |
| 7 | Utah Valley | 199 | 3, 23, 50, 60, 63 |
| 8 | Washington | 217 | 19, 36, 42, 51, 69 |
| 9 | Arkansas | 225 | 10, 24, 43, 70, 78 |
| 10 | Michigan | 228 | 14, 34, 40, 61, 79 |
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Individually, Oklahoma State's Natalie Cook won the individual title in her first career race, finishing in 20:17.1, the sixth-fastest time in course history. Fellow Cowgirl Taylor Roe finished second in 20:20.8, an impressive follow-up to her 2021 Cowboy Jamboree victory. Northern Arizona's Elise Stearns and Annika Reiss were the only other pair of teammates to finish in the top 10, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively.
| Place | Athlete | School | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natalie Cook | Oklahoma State | 20:17.1 |
| 2 | Taylor Roe | Oklahoma State | 20:20.8 |
| 3 | Everlyn Kemboi | Utah Valley | 20:22.2 |
| 4 | Aubrey Frentheway | BYU | 20:23.1 |
| 5 | Elise Stearns | Northern Arizona | 20:29.5 |
| 6 | Annika Reiss | Northern Arizona | 20:32.5 |
| 7 | Maia Ramsden | Harvard | 20:32.7 |
| 8 | Perri Bockrath | Kentucky | 20:33.6 |
| 9 | Savannah Roark | Syracuse | 20:37.3 |
| 10 | Isabel Van Camp | Arkansas | 20:37.4 |
Click or tap here to see the complete women's results.
Men's 8K results
No. 4 BYU won the men's 8K title at the Cowboy Jamboree with 75 points, highlighted by Joey Noke's personal best time of 23:36.1. Three Cougars finished in the top 15, powering BYU past No. 3 Stanford in second place, with the Cardinals finishing with the second and fourth-fastest runners. Here's a breakdown of the top 10 finishing teams.
| Place | Team | Points | Finishers (First five) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BYU | 75 | 7, 10, 11, 20, 27 |
| 2 | Stanford | 101 | 2, 4, 16, 21, 58 |
| 3 | Northern Arizona | 110 | 5, 9, 19, 38, 39 |
| 4 | Oklahoma State | 118 | 1, 3, 17, 43, 54 |
| 5 | Tulsa | 143 | 12, 18, 22, 32, 59 |
| 6 | Wake Forest | 177 | 14, 23, 29, 44, 67 |
| 7 | Colorado | 183 | 8, 37, 40, 42, 56 |
| 8 | Syracuse | 202 | 31, 34, 35, 41, 61 |
| 9 | Air Force | 223 | 28, 45, 47, 48, 55 |
| 10 | Gonzaga | 245 | 15, 46, 49, 64, 71 |
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Individually, No. 2 Oklahoma State saw Alex Maier take home the individual title in 23:16.9, giving the Cowboys the men's-women's sweep at their home invitational. Maier ran the second-fastest time in Cowboy Jamboree history. Rounding out the top five were star runners Charles Hicks (Stanford), Victor Shitsama (Oklahoma State), Cole Sprout (Stanford) and Nico Young (Northern Arizona) as four teams finished with multiple individuals in the top 10.
| Place | Athlete | School | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Maier | Oklahoma State | 23:16.9 |
| 2 | Charles Hicks | Stanford | 23:20.0 |
| 3 | Victor Shitsama | Oklahoma State | 23:20.5 |
| 4 | Cole Sprout | Stanford | 23:20.8 |
| 5 | Nico Young | Northern Arizona | 23:24.4 |
| 6 | Acer Iverson | Harvard | 23:27.7 |
| 7 | Casey Clinger | BYU | 23:30.0 |
| 8 | Andrew Kent | Colorado | 23:30.8 |
| 9 | Drew Bosley | Northern Arizona | 23:35.5 |
| 10 | Joey Nokes | BYU | 23:36.1 |
Click or tap here to see the complete men's results.
What does it mean
After BYU and Oklahoma State wins, the Cowboy Jamboree may have given us an early taste of the NCAA Championships, which conveniently will also be hosted by Oklahoma State. Of the top nine men's finishers at the invitational, four finished in the top 13 at 2021's national championships.
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Expect the results from this week's meet to shake up the next edition of the USTFCCCA's rankings as the Cowboy Jamboree was the first time many of the top teams competed against teams similarly as high in the rankings. With less than two months until the best-of-the-best return to Oklahoma State for the title race, the Cowboy Jamboree brought early season excitement.
🏃♂️LATEST CROSS COUNTRY NEWS 🏃♀️
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