The Lincoln cross country teams went to one of the oldest meets in the country last week and continued to compete among the elite, as both teams finished well at the Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater.

At one of the top meets of the year on the toughest course in the nation, the girls had their best showing of the season and the boys performed well, once again.

The girls finished 2nd overall as a team, while the boys came in 6th.

"The girls were laser focused and put themselves in a good spot to start the race," said head coach Stephen Lewelling.

The girls took down No. 1 (6A) Jenks and finished as the top team from Oklahoma last Friday.

Freshman Madi Miller was 15th overall with a time of 19:39 in the 5k run. She was followed by junior Bentley Stewart, who was 20th at 19:49.

Freshman Bella Ramirez was 33rd for the Bulldogs at 20:14, while junior Tennyson Housley was close behind at 35th with a time of 20:16.

Izzy Truitt was 63rd in the the event at 20:47, while Brea Gardner was 96th at 21:29.

The girls continued to improve as the race went on, according to Lewelling, as they flirted with winning the meet overall.

"As a team, we were in 7th at the mile then 5th at the 3k," said Lewelling. "As results were coming in at the finish line we kept switching between 2nd and 3rd with Jenks as each runner coming in."

It was one of the best performances for the girls all-time, as Lewelling couldn't speak enough about the accomplishment of his team.

"Finishing as the best team in Oklahoma and only being beaten by Texas powerhouse Lucas Lovejoy was incredible," Lewelling said. "It was a huge team performance — quite possibly the best meet our girls have ever had."

The boys were led by sophomore Ben Bouldin, who finished 31st overall with a time of 16:42. Junior Sammy Farris was close behind in 38th at 16:47.

Junior Trevor Hacker as 47th at 16:52, while senior Garner McAfee finished 74th at 17:17 to help the boys improved for 14th as a team mid-race to finish in the top six.

"The boys ran first and started conservatively," said Lewelling. "As a team we were 14th through the mile but they worked through the field and ended up with 6th place overall."

After winning the first four meets of the season, the boys will continue to work on preparing for the upcoming regional meet and state with another tough meet this weekend.

"It was not the result we wanted but I'm hoping it fuels us for our upcoming meet at Chile Pepper which we've had circled on the calendar for a while."

The Cowboy Jamboree meet was first held in 1937, making it one of the oldest meets in the nation. 

Oklahoma State has put over $4 million into the ground work for the course, including 1,200 irrigation heads and astro Bermuda grass. The land has been valued at over $20 million.

The course hosted the NCAA national championships in 2022 and is slated to do so again in 2027.

Lincoln improved its showing from its last appearances there, where the boys and girls each finished 11th.

The Bulldogs will be at the largest meet in the nation this weekend when both teams travel to the annual Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, AR on Saturday.