AMES, Iowa -

Oklahoma State men's cross country, with one of its patented pack-running efforts, captured the 2013 NCAA Midwest Regional Cross Country Championship, in Ames, Iowa, on Friday.

With the 45-57 win over second-place Tulsa, the Cowboys earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, which will take place next Saturday.

OSU ran comfortably as a pack in the lead group from start to finish of the 10K race, as Tom Farrell (30:36.3), Shadrack Kipchirchir(30:36.6), Craig Nowak (30:36.9), Kirubel Erassa (30:41.3) and Joseph Manilafasha (30:42.5) finished in places 7-11, respectively. The group was separated by a total of 7.2 seconds. 

“They did a really good job of running a poised and controlled race,” OSU coach Dave Smith said. “The goal was to get through, win the region and do it with as little damage as possible for next week, and I think we accomplished that. The guys in the front group ran a brilliant race. They never had to put the pedal to the metal. That’s a good situation.”