On Oct. 16 at the Bradley Pink Classic Invitational in Peoria, Ill., Oakland University cross country broke two long-standing school records.

On the men’s side, Bryce Stroede ran a 24:16.0 in the 8K. On the women’s side, freshman Rachel Levy ran a 20:58.7 in the 6K.

Levy is the first female to break 21 minutes in a 6k for the Golden Grizzlies. This was also her first race as a Grizzly.

“For a kid who has never raced a 6k in her life it was really amazing to watch,” head coach Paul Rice said. “We were pleasantly surprised, having her now in that top group took us to another level.”

Levy was battling issues with her achilles tendon for a majority of the fall season, which put her in a position where she almost had to redshirt. However, for the past three weeks Levy’s training has been stellar and she’s been able to hang with the top runners, explained Rice. So on Oct. 9 at a duel meet against Central Michigan, the decison was made to have Levy run unattached.

“We talked about trying to race only a 3k,” Rice said. “We didn’t give her a uniform, she ran unattached to see how she felt… She ran great and won it and looked good. So we gave her a shot at Bradley.”  

Levy proceeded to break the school record by ten seconds.

“I was very pleased with my 6k time as it was my first 6k ever,” Levy said. “But I didn’t know I broke the school record until a bit later. When I found out, I was shocked and excited to see how I can improve and hopefully break the record again.”

This puts Levy at the top of the pack for Oakland just in time for the Horizon League championship. Rice said he’s excited to see how this will benefit the Grizzlies not only for Horizon Leagues, but also for the future.

“I use the word ‘dynasty’ a lot with this group,” Rice said. “But I honestly think that is what we are on the brink of. When we look down the road 10 or 20 years and we will look back and say that this 2015 group started the dynasty.”

The women’s cross country team is still relatively young. Of the top seven runners, five are returning next year. This will help build upon the dynasty that Rice is talking about. The women’s team is also ranked in the top 15 in the Great Lake region. The Great Lakes region consists of all Division I schools from Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin.

“I don’t think that this ranking is completely accurate,” Rice said. “If we run our best at Regionals, I think that we will be able to be top 12 or top 10, but it is difficult because we have one day and 20 minutes to prove it.”

Levy and Rice both agree that this team is capable of accomplishing the team goal: winning the Horizon League Championship.  

“I think that this is the strongest women’s team we’ve had,” Rice said. “Both teams, men and women, are going there to win a championships, but I will say that this group of men and women are as confident and talented as any group that have won any before.”

Rice did mention that although his goal at regionals is to improve the team ranking, the team motto does still stand true, “Don’t let outside factors become factors.”

“I say our chances are good to go in and win, go and do our best, run our best and hope it is good enough,” Rice said. “Focus on what we can control and embrace the competition.”