Meet Results
 
CANYON, Texas – The No. 11 Buffalo cross country team of West Texas A&M raced to a second place overall team finish in the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, Okla. on Saturday morning, trailing only the host Division I cross country power OSU. Additionally, WT placed first in the small division field and was led by freshman Geoffrey Kipchumba as it finished with 48 points and an average time of 26:21.42.
 
"I'm proud of our efforts today," noted head coach Darren Flowers. "We went out aggressively which is what you need to do in a race like this. Our gap from one to five is larger than what I would have hoped but hopefully we can improve that next week and over the coming weeks leading into Championship season."
 
The historic Cowboy Jamboree, one of the largest non-championship cross country races in the nation, has been run each year since 1937 and is famously known as the oldest consecutive cross country race in the United States. Regularly each year, the meet is home to some of the top teams and individual runners in the country.
 
The Buffs competed in the small university division today where they topped the field with 48 total points. Metro State placed second with 81 points followed by Colby Community College (third, 102 points), Wayland Baptist (fourth, 106 points), Cameron (fifth, 108 points), Eastern New Mexico (sixth, 110 points) and Oklahoma Christian (seventh, 114 points).
 
In the D1 men's field, OSU grabbed a perfect score of 15 points as it crossed the top-five runners in the competition. The Cowboys were followed by Belmont (second, 61 points), Creighton (third, 84 points), Oral Roberts (fourth, 123 points), Incarnate Word (fifth, 134 points), and Abilene Christian (sixth, 156 points). Between both the D1 and the small university splits, the Buffs would finish second overall only behind OSU with an average time per runner of 26:21.42.
 
Leading the way for WT this morning was Kipchumba, the freshman from Kapsabet, Kenya, who placed third in the small university division with a time of 25:30.27. Coming next for the Buffs were senior Brett Villarreal in fifth at 25:55.00 and sophomore Steve Lagat in ninth with a time of 26:16.35. Rounding out the top-five for WT were juniors Zach Daniel (14^th, 26:50.02) and Michael Barnett (17^th, 27:15.46). Also running for the Buffs were sophomore Evans Langat (22^nd, 27:34.58) and senior Armando Rueda (24^th, 27:39.63).
 
The Oklahoma State Cross Country Course itself is grass with wood chips scattered throughout allowing for a soft surface for competition and training. It features rolling hills that add elements of unique training in many different scenarios, making the feel of a typical European cross country course. It is a challenging yet unique layout and is only a half mile from OSU's locker rooms. The course is one of the few in the country, like WT's "The Range", actually located on the college's campus.
 
The Buffs will return to action next weekend as they run in their third-straight NCAA Division I host race at the prestigious Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival (8K) in Fayetteville, Ark. The race will be hosted by the University of Arkansas and will be held at the Agri Park Cross Country Course on Saturday, Oct. 4. WT is set to race at 9:45 a.m.