Deer Creek cleans up in race

Both boys and girls from Deer Creek won first place in a race across the state at the 32nd annual Holland Hall Cross Country Invitational.

Head coach David Riden said his team wanted to race in the Holland Hall race instead of OK Runner Classic in Norman, which took place the day before, because they liked the challenge of running through the more wild terrain of the Holland Hall course.

“Our group just enjoys the course a lot at Holland Hall,” Riden said. “We feel comfortable with the Norman course and think we’ll be ready come regionals. ”For the girls, senior runner Elysia Burgos took first place with a time of 19:31, to help secure the win for the Deer Creek girls. She was followed by freshman Aubrey Byers who finished fourth overall with a time of 20:36.For the boys, four runners finished in the top 10 led by senior Jackson Wedge who finished third with a time of 16:38 and junior Steven Clark who finished sixth with a time of 16:48.

Several teams forced to choose between Chile Pepper and Cowboy Jamboree

The Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater is considered to be one of the premiere events of the Oklahoma cross country season, but several schools this year are going to skip it for the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival in Fayetteville, Ark as the two races both fall on the same day.Bishop McGuinness, Carl Albert, Deer Creek, Mustang and Norman are just a few of the teams travelling to compete in the Chile Pepper.

Last year more than 6,500 runners and 750 teams from across the country competed in the race.

The Cowboy Jamboree bills itself as the oldest continuous race in the United States, this will be the 81st running.Edmond North, Edmond Memorial, Edmond Santa Fe, Westmoore and Stillwater are just a few of the teams competing in the Jamboree.