As a guy in the bleachers enjoying the view, I never thought (five years ago) I would look out and see Martin Smith guiding the Oklahoma Sooners to the 2011 NCAA Cross Country Championships with a chance to win it.  However, a closer look reveals that this year's Sooners are built for a run at the title.

I first became familiar with coach Smith when he took over as the head men's coach at Oregon.  After winning six Big 10 CC coach of the year awards in 16 years at Wisconsin, Smith had massive shoes to fill in Track Town.  As a west coast guy who had spent many days watching track at Hayward Field, I paid close attention to the Ducks.  His tenure in Eugene was a short five years, and he quickly landed in Oklahoma.

Smith built the 2011 Oklahoma men's team off of a strong 2010 campaign.  The Sooners won the Midwest region and earned fifth place at NCAA's, Oklahoma's highest ever.  Oklahoma does not have a strong distance history as Kevin Schwab's became the school's fifth All-American ever.

That brings us to 2011.  The Sooners have been highly ranked throughout the season yet seem to be unnoticed.  Their cross-state foe Oklahoma State carries last year's championship banner and the hefty attention that goes along with it.  Oklahoma also stayed out of the spotlight when the men skipped pre-nats and the highly-competitive adidas Wisconsin meets, opting for the Paul Short and Chile Pepper Invitationals before the championship season.

What makes this year's Sooner team a contender?  First, success comes from tight team gaps at championship races.  They lost to Oklahoma State 30-43 with a 32 1-5 second gap at the Big 12 meet.  On Saturday at the Midwest regional they narrowed the margin to just three points (42-45) and posted a 22 second 1-7 gap.

The second key to this tough Sooner team is experience.  Senior Kevin Schwab has some of the best range in the NCAA.  He ran 3:59 for the mile at Notre Dame in 2009 to go along with four All-Region and one All-American honor in cross country.  Schwab is the low-point man for the Sooners, a critical front-runner that has a shot at a top 10 finish.

Seniors George Alex, Jeremy Sudbury, and Aaron Sherf may be the most interesting trio to toe the line on championship Monday.  All three are transfers from Paradise Valley JC in Arizona.  None were blue-chippers, and they have developed quickly into the driving force behind their squad.  When was the last time three JC guys were all-region for the same team?  Sudbury (10th), Alex (11th), and Sherf (21st) pulled it off last week.

Here is the combination.  A veteran coach of over 30 years who has led four different squads to NCAA XC titles.  A top-tier senior leader who can contend on the right day.  Junior college veterans who battled their way to national status.  The Oklahoma Sooners are ranked 4th national, but few list them among the list of contenders.  This might be the perfect recipe for success.  Oklahoma may turn heads in 2011 the way that Florida State did in 2010.