Arkansas men claim Virginia Pre-Nationals championship, women place 2nd

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Razorback sophomore Ben Shearer defeated the field assembled for the Virginia Pre-Nationals amid an inclement day at Panorama Farms, winning the 8,000-meter race in a time of 22:55 seconds as No. 21 Arkansas claimed the team title with 35 points.

Razorbacks finishing behind Shearer among the top 10 in the field included the trio of Kirami Yego, Patrick Kiprop and Jacob McLeod as they placed 3-56. Wrapping up the Arkansas team score as the fifth finisher was Myles Richter in 20th place.

The 35-point team total enabled the Razorbacks to defeat a field that included a pair of other top 30 nationally ranked teams along with a slew of regionally ranked squads.

Team runner-up was No. 17 Tennessee (89), followed by No. 10 Virginia (112), Montana State (137) and Purdue (215). The rest of the top 10 from the field of 23 teams that field five or more runners included Wyoming (220), Santa Clara (283), Miami, Ohio (323), Virginia Tech (324) and Yale (338).

Shearer alternated between fifth and sixth place through the 6,000-meter race, then moved into third place at the 7,000-meter race (20:15.6). A final 1,000-meter split of 2:39.4 moved Shearer past teammate Yego, who led at 7k (20:13.0), as well as Tennessee’s Yaseen Abdalla, who was second at 7k (20:15.3).

Churning up the hill at the finish, Shearer bettered the field chasing him by 3.6 seconds. Adballa finished runner-up in 22:58.6 (2:43.4 final 1k) with Yego third in 23:04.2. Yego led the field at 2k, 4k and 7k.

Chandler Gibbens of Kansas placed fourth in 23:09.6 while the Arkansas combo of Kiprop and McLeod placed fifth and sixth in 23:11.5 and 23:17.1, respectively, in their first races of the season. McLeod finished with a 2:42.2 over the final 1k distance.

Richter also closed well with a 2:52.9 on the final 1k, crossing the finish line in 23:40. The sixth and seventh finishers for Arkansas included Lexington Hilton (23:45.7) and Reuben Reina (23:48.5) as they placed 26th and 27th.

Elias Schreml posted a time of 23:54.5 to finish 33rd, while Tommy Romanow clocked 23:55.3 for 35th.

Racing in the B race for Arkansas were Josh Shearer and Jack Williams. Josh finished eighth in 24:34.4 while Williams posted a time of 25:22.0 to place 51st.

The No. 19 Brigham Young University scored 32 points for the team victory, led by individual winner Carmen Alder, who covered the course in 19:36.2. Arkansas scored 90 points as runner-up from a 2-615-27-39 finish.

Host Virginia, ranked No. 7, placed third with 104 points, followed by No. 17 Oregon (117) and Tennessee (135). The rest of the top 10 included Wake Forest (218), Cal Poly (301), Michigan (326), Washington State (345) and Villanova (351). A total of 24 teams ran with enough runners to compile a team score.

Noe finished as the top freshman in the field. Her first 1k split of 3:11 had her in 12th place. She moved up to fourth place at the 2k split, 6:33.8, and was 11 at 3k in 9:58.4. At 4k, off a 3:16.5, Noe moved into eighth place and was third at 5k (16:38.7) after a 3:23.9 split. She finished with a 3:11 to maintain third place to the finish line.

Sydney Thorvaldson followed Noe to place sixth in 19:58.9 while Mia Cochran finished 15th in 20:17.1 and Laura Taborda placed 27th in 20:38. Completing the Razorbacks team score as the fifth finisher was Mary Ellen Eudaly, clocking 20:51 in 39th.

The Arkansas crew also included Nyah Hernandez (21:06.2, 56th), Heidi Nielson (21:14.3, 68th), Mackenzie Rogers (21:15.2, 73rd) and Tiana LoStracco (21:36.6, 107th). Chachi Gonzales competed in the B race, posting a time of 22:31.7 for 88th.