Razorbacks win men’s SEC Championship, women runner-up

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The No. 8-nationally ranked Arkansas Razorbacks men’s cross country team claimed its 28th Southeastern Conference Championship in cross country on Friday, scoring 38 points, to finish ahead of defending champion No. 22 Alabama, which finished runner-up with 57 points.

This marked the 30th SEC Championship among the three disciplines — cross country, indoor and outdoor track — for Razorback men’s coach Chris Bucknam.

Silver medalist Patrick Kiprop led Arkansas in the conference meet for the second consecutive year, improving upon his fifth-place effort in 2022. He posted a time of 22:31.6 over the 8,000-meter course as Alabama’s Victor Kiprop won the individual title in 22:23.4. At the 7k split, P. Kiprop led the field in 19:31.2 over V. Kiprop’s 19:31.6.

No. 13 Tennessee finished third with 59 points while Texas A&M placed fourth with 140. They were followed by Auburn (148), Mississippi (169), Florida (194) and Kentucky (197).

Ben Shearer, the top freshman last year in 21st place, finished fifth with a 22:50.2 clocking while teammate Kirani Yego placed sixth in 22:54.8. Shearer passed Yego over the final kilometer.

The next pair of finishers for Arkansas to compete the impressive team score were Elias Schreml and Reuben Reina, who placed 12th and 13th with times of 23:23.8 and 23:27.8, respectively.

The sixth Razorback was Myles Richter in 16th with a 23:30.2 while Jacob McLeod claimed the seventh position in 18th at 23:33.5. Tommy Romanow placed 22nd in 23:57 while Lexington Hilton was one of seven who did not finish among the field of 114 runners.

This is the third SEC cross country title for Arkansas in the past four seasons and the ninth championship since the league’s current configuration from 2012.

In all three seasons, the Razorbacks have claimed 10 of the past 11 SEC Championships contested.

No. 11 Arkansas challenged No. 7 Florida for the women’s SEC Cross Country Championship, finishing 10 points behind the Gators as both teams placed their top five runners among the top 20.

Florida scored 49 points for the team title with Arkansas runner-up with 59 points. Tennessee finished third with 80 points while defending champion Alabama placed fourth with 84 points.

This marks the closest finish in the women’s team chase since 2012 when Florida defeated the Razorbacks by nine points, 61 to 70.

Arkansas freshman Paityn Noe and sophomore Sydney Thorvaldson led the team in placing fifth and sixth.

Noe covered the 6,000m course in 19:43.7 in just her second race ever at the distance. Thorvaldson crossed the line in 19:49.8. Both closed well, covering the final 1k in 3:34.2 and 3:37, respectively.

Florida’s Parker Valby defended her individual title in 18:37.5 while transfer teammate Flomena Askel finished fourth in 19:31.9. Alabama occupied second and third place with Doris Lemngole (19:11.2) and Hilda Olemomoi (19:23.5).

Teams finishing in the top 10 included Mississippi (107), Texas A&M (181), Vanderbilt (258), South Carolina (262), Missouri (265) and Louisiana State University (278).

The next three Razorbacks finishing the course were Laura Taborda in 12th, Mia Cochran in 16th, and Mary Ellen Eudaly in 20th. Taborda covered the course in 20:94.8, Cochran clocked 20:12.3 and Eudaly posted 20:29.5.

The spread across Arkansas’ top five was 45.8 seconds, an improvement from the 61.4-second gap they had at Pre-Nationals.

Rounding out the Arkansas runners among a field of 145 were Nyah Hernandez with a 20:58.9 in placing 33rd along with Heidi Nielson finishing 38th in 21:07.9 and Tiana LoStracco finishing 47th in 21:22.2.

Next for Arkansas is the NCAA South Central Region meet the Razorbacks will host at Agri Park on Nov. 10. The top two teams will automatically qualify for the NCAA Championship field.