Freshman Wins UCO Meet

September 5, 2009

Chelsey Dillon

EDMOND, Okla. - Southwestern Oklahoma State University has its latest cross country sensation.

Chelsey Dillon turned in a dominating wire-to-wire performance capturing the season's first cross country meet at the Central Oklahoma Land Run Saturday. The five-kilometer race was held at Edmond's Mitch Park. Dillon, a freshman from Mabank, Texas, won with a blistering time of 19:13, five seconds ahead of her nearest competitor, Nichole Lair of Oklahoma Christian.

A total of 54 runners competed in the event from six schools, SWOSU, UCO, OC, Oklahoma City, Southeastern and Oklahoma Baptist.

SWOSU as a team finished fourth in the event with 81 points. The Bulldogs next runner to cross the finish line was Sarah Hix in 17^th place with a time of 21:20. OBU won the team competition with 39 points as the Bison placed runners in the fourth, sixth, eighth and 10^th positions.

Still, the talk of the meet was Dillon as she ran apart from the field the entire race. She led by 20 yards at the one-mile pole and kept up the blistering pace until the end. Dillon was so far ahead of the field, she greeted the third and fourth place runners with water cups at the finish line.

SWOSU coach Josh Musick knew going in he had a chance for success with Dillon but was cautious considering this was her first-ever collegiate meet.

"Chelsey is so strong. She ran a great race," Musick said. "We didn't know what to expect since this was the first time she has run a 5K in competition. This is something we will build on and hopefully have even bigger things down the line."

SWOSU's other finishers in the event were as follows: Patty Murphy in 24^th with a time of 21:31; Tatum Hoffman in 26^th at 21:38, Melissa Banks in 36^th at 22:30, Micah Mathis in 43^rd at 23:02, Carissa Curtis in 44^th at 23:08, Brittany Strickland in 51^st with 24:44; Lisa Garza in 52^nd at 24:51, Zandra Allen was 53^rd at 25:18 and Kelsey Orange was 54^th with a time of 27:53.

The team will next run Saturday, Sept. 12 at the West Texas A&M Buffalo Stampede.