Arkansas women win regional title; men finish 2nd

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.— Razorback Sydney Thorvaldson led Arkansas to a team victory at Agri Park on Friday during the NCAA South Central Region meet. Thorvaldson covered the 6,000-meter course in 19:52 as the Razorbacks claimed its 12th consecutive region team title, the 27th overall for Arkansas.

With a team score of 36 points, the Razorbacks secured an automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships, which will take place Saturday at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville, Va.

Arkansas produced a 1-2-6-10-17 finish among its first five. Following Thorvaldson was Razorback teammate Mia Cockran as runner-up in 20:14.8 while Mary Ellen Eudaly finished sixth in 20:22.5. Laura Taborda crossed the finish line in 20.42.3 to place 10th while Nyah Hernandez rounded out the Razorbacks team score in 17th at 21:03.5.

Also racing for the Razorbacks were Heidi Nielson and Mackenzie Rogers. They placed 20th and 23rd with times of 21:04.1 and 21:04.8.

All seven members of the Arkansas squad earned All-Region honors for placing among the top 25 in a field of 183 runners.

Razorback Patrick Kiprop defended his individual title at the NCAA South Central Region meet as the Arkansas men finished runner-up in team scoring to secure an automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships for the 12th consecutive year.

Kiprop covered the 10,000-meter course in 28:38.8 with teammate Kirami Yego finishing second in 28:43.0 as UofA scored 52 points.

In the final stages of the race Kiprop and Yego passed Hart to complete the 1-2 finish for Arkansas. Conversations between the two Razorbacks set up what they planned near the end of the race.

Completing the Arkansas team score were Lexington Hilton (30:02.4), Jacob McLeod (30:05.4), and Tommy Romanow (30:19.8) as the trio placed 14-15-20. Jack Williams was the sixth and final Razorback in the race, placing 40th (31:02.9). The first five Razorbacks earned All-Region for placing among the top 25 in a field of 177 runners.