Oakland’s Men’s Cross Country team is 12 runners deep. However, the four junior boys on the team, Andrew Bowman, Jacob Bowman, Bryce Stroede and Chris Scott, have a chance to change the program forever, according to head coach Paul Rice.

“We have a young team this year and the success this fall will set us on a great path for next fall,” Rice said. “This group of guys know that what we have here could be a dynasty.”

Stroede is the key component of this group. As a freshman, Stroede qualified for USA Junior Nationals in the outdoor 5,000 meter with a time of 14:23. With Nationals being in early July and cross country training starting in early August, Rice and Stroede came to an agreement to give him a break from competition his sophomore year and have Stroede redshirt.

“We discussed getting used to higher milage training,” Rice explained. “Last fall we cranked up the mileage and it was easier to do that without racing. Last year he focused on the training and now he is focused on keeping up that milage while competing.”

Rice applied this training mechanism to the whole team, and the results were obvious. At the Louisville Classic on October 3. six of the top seven male runners achieved personal best times in the 8k. This brought Oakland into the spotlight at the meet.

“Louisville was an exciting meet for me,” Rice said. “The guys dominated that race and we were under the radar. It was our debut and Bryce was a big part of it.”

Stroede was not the fastest runner from Oakland at Louisville, however. Jacob Bowman, a member of the elite junior class, won the event for Oakland in a personal best of 24:48.

“One of the reasons why we are as good as we are right now is because of that class,” Rice said. “The Bowman brothers are pushed by Bryce; he is the catalyst.”

Stroede believes the team dynamic has changed from his previous years of experience. He explained it as “coming in with a common goal and doing everything we can to help each other improve.” This provides a positive atmosphere that allows the best training and competing to take place. Stroede and Rice have a common goal for the team.

“Our goal this season is to bring home a Horizon League championship to OU in a couple weeks and to have a great showing at our Regional meet,” Stroede said. “I didn’t set any personal goals this season, everything was more team oriented.”

Stroede is pleased with the season thus far. Watching Rice’s training fall into place and seeing the performance is making Stroede eager to see progression for the rest of the team.

Horizon League’s Championships are taking place in Dayton, Ohio on Oct. 31st. Oakland is ready for it.

“The juniors want to send the seniors out on top, put a ring on their finger,” Rice said. “To prove to the Horizon and the region that we are building something tough to beat when we are running our best. I’m excited to see what Dayton will bring us.”