Aggies finish 26th at Cowboy Jamboree
STILLWATER, Okla. (Oct. 1) - A minor detour might not have had a major effect on the outcome, but it sure didn't help the Cameron men's cross country team on Saturday in the 69th annual Cowboy Jamboree, hosted by Oklahoma State.
Coach Matt Aguero's Aggies finished 26th in the college division of the event, which attracted teams from as far away as Syracuse University, but might have finished higher if not for a case of misdirection that affected the bottom half of the Cameron lineup.
"We had three of our guys running with a pack toward the back and the race officials sent them the wrong way on the course," Aguero said. "They ended up running about an extra kilometer."
Aguero attributed the confusion to race officials closing off a portion of the course when they thought all the runners had passed. When the pack of about 15 runners reached the closed point, they were diverted to another portion of the OSU cross country layout that took the runners further from the finish line.
"That kind of stuff can happen every once in a while when you're at a meet this size," Aguero said. "There were races all morning for high school boys and girls, as well as college and university divisions. It was just an honest mistake. It may have cost us a point or two in the team score, but most of the guys in that back pack ran the same route, so there were equally effected."
The longest continually running meet of its kind in the nation, the Cowboy Jamboree featured 28 teams in the men's college division alone.
For the third straight meet, Cameron's top finisher Saturday was Marlow freshman Matt Moreno, who finished among the Top 100 individuals in the race with a time of 30:01. Frank Fleming finished right behind with a time of 30:12, and Jon McMasters finished the eight-kilometer track in 31:23. Hampered by the inadvertent detour, Bill Poland posted a time of 39:08, with Andrew Brasier and Bira Vidal close behind.
Cameron will have two weeks to prepare for its next outing. Aguero will take his Aggies on the road to compete against some of the top teams in the nation, competing in the University of Arkansas Chile Pepper Invitational on Oct. 15, in Fayetteville, Ark.
For complete results from the 2005 Cowboy Jamboree, visit the official Oklahoma State athletics website at www.okstate.com.
69th annual Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree (Stillwater, Okla.)
CAMERON RESULTS:
26. 689 CAMERON ( 34:06 2:50:28)
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1 97 Matt Moreno 30:01
2 108 Frank Flemming 30:12
3 136 Jon McMasters 31:23
4 171 Bill Poland 39:08
5 177 Andrew Brasier 39:44
6 (179) Bira Vidal 40:25
