Arkansas Earns Berth to NCAA Championships wit


WACO, Texas - The seventh-ranked Razorback cross country team posted a first-place performance at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships on Saturday morning to gain an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships. Arkansas had six runners finish in the top 25 to tally 54 points on the Cottonwood Creek Golf Course. Texas A&M claimed second with 73.
Arkansas' win marked the 15th-consecutive time the Hogs have brought home the regional title. Overall, the Razorbacks have won 25 regional crowns since 1976.
Senior All-American Alistair Cragg continued to improve as he garnered runner-up honors when he clocked a 10K time of 30:08. In 2002 Cragg captured the individual title (29:45). This year's regional contest was only his second meet of the season. Paul Morrison of Texas took the top prize with a time of 29:43.
"It was a good meet for us," Arkansas head coach John McDonnell said. "All seven guys ran well. I told Alistair (Cragg) not to go for first place, but just to hang back. He looked great down the stretch and gained some ground at the end, even when he was just going nice and easy. Said Ahmed and Adam Perkins ran well too. It was good to see them move up. If we stay healthy we'll be in good shape for nationals, but we'll still have a very young group."
Junior All-American Jason Sandfort was UA's second man when he registered a time of 30:19 for fifth place overall. Sophomore transfer Matt Gunn turned in a time of 31:12 for 14th place, while freshman Mike Poe was right behind in 15th (31:15).
Freshman Josh Harper was the fifth man on the roster after he came in 22nd (31:44). In only his second race of the year, sophomore Said Ahmed ran a season-best time of 31:49 for 24th. Freshman Adam Perkins rounded out the Hogs in 38th place and a time of 32:19.
The NCAA Cross Country Championships on Nov. 24 will be next on the agenda for the Razorbacks. They will look for an upset in trying to claim their 12th national title as they carry a No. 7 national ranking into Waterloo, Iowa.

Results:

 NCAA CROSS COUNTRY SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL NOVEMBER 15, 2003 UNIVERSITY MEN (10,000m) School 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Score ______________________________________________________________________ Arkansas 2 5 13 14 20 22 36 54 Texas A&M 6 8 9 17 33 38 42 73 Stephen F. Austin 4 7 11 21 34 49 54 77 Texas 1 12 23 24 25 29 48 85 Sam Houston State 16 32 35 37 43 80 93 163 Rice 10 18 40 53 59 97 180 Baylor 19 27 41 61 65 101 213 Texas - Pan American 3 44 70 72 82 83 92 271 Houston 45 47 55 58 66 71 91 271 Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 39 50 57 62 67 79 90 275 Louisiana State University 15 56 63 73 77 87 99 284 Arkansas - Little Rock 28 31 46 89 95 98 107 289 Mcneese State 30 60 69 75 76 102 310 Louisiana - Monroe 51 52 64 86 94 347 Texas Christian 26 78 85 88 96 104 106 373 Louisiana - Lafayette 68 74 81 84 100 103 105 407 NCAA CROSS COUNTRY SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL NOVEMBER 15, 2003 UNIVERSITY MEN (10,000m) Ind Team Pl Pl Tag Name School Time ________________________________________________________________________ 1 1 284 Paul Morrison Texas 29:43 2 2 16 Alistair Cragg Arkansas 30:13 4 4 259 Michael Thompson Stephen F. Austin 30:17 5 5 26 Jason Sandfort Arkansas 30:19 6 233 Dalibor Balgac Southern Methodist 30:27 7 6 336 Tommy Bonn Texas A&M 30:31 8 7 255 Nathan Flores Stephen F. Austin 30:47 9 8 394 Brian McKinstry Texas A&M 30:48 10 9 338 Andrew Cook Texas A&M 30:49 11 10 206 Stephen Magness Rice 30:50 12 11 257 Justin Meier Stephen F. Austin 30:51 13 12 287 Joe Thorne Texas 31:08 14 13 20 Matt Gunn Arkansas 31:12 15 14 25 Mike Poe Arkansas 31:15 16 15 148 Jeffrey Wiggins Louisiana State University 31:19 17 303 Erik Petersson Texas - Arlington 31:23 18 16 225 Raul Villarreal Sam Houston State 31:25 19 17 343 Jon Lewis Texas A&M 31:28 20 18 205 Marcel Hewamudalige Rice 31:34 21 19 74 Bo Price Baylor 31:38 22 20 21 Josh Harper Arkansas 31:44 23 21 250 Julian Acuna Stephen F. Austin 31:45 24 22 14 Said Ahmed Arkansas 31:49 25 23 288 Jon Von Letscher Texas 31:52 26 24 283 Andrew Middleton Texas 31:52 27 25 281 Mark Floreani Texas 31:56 28 26 388 Jackson Langat Texas Christian 32:00 29 27 71 Matt Chance Baylor 32:00 30 28 45 Dmitry Shokur Arkansas - Little Rock 32:01 31 29 285 John Rainbolt Texas 32:08 32 30 159 Kris Gilmore Mcneese State 32:09 33 31 44 Andrey Shokur Arkansas - Little Rock 32:13 34 32 224 Eli Umanzor Sam Houston State 32:14 35 33 346 Matt McLeod Texas A&M 32:16 36 34 254 Marc Farris Stephen F. Austin 32:18 37 35 220 Isai Llanes Sam Houston State 32:19 38 36 24 Adam Perkins Arkansas 32:19 39 37 216 Joe Amburn Sam Houston State 32:20 40 38 342 Joe Lanzillotti Texas A&M 32:20 41 39 373 Eric Pardo Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 32:24 42 191 Noah Murgo Northwestern State 32:27 43 40 203 Adam Davis Rice 32:28 44 41 72 Kyle King Baylor 32:30 NCAA CROSS COUNTRY SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL NOVEMBER 15, 2003 UNIVERSITY MEN (10,000m) Ind Team Pl Pl Tag Name School Time _________________________________________________________________________ 45 42 347 Jose Moctezuma Texas A&M 32:33 46 43 221 Brandon Mosely Sam Houston State 32:34 47 44 315 Hugo Cervantes Texas - Pan American 32:39 48 45 86 Cole Dailey Houston 32:42 49 46 40 Johan Lindgren Arkansas - Little Rock 32:43 50 47 93 Alex Winstel Houston 32:45 51 77 Feedly Bonneau Grambling State 32:50 52 48 280 Jeff Cutrer Texas 32:57 53 49 252 Cody Clark Stephen F. Austin 33:01 54 50 371 Eddie Geis Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 33:03 55 51 124 Maya Aden Louisiana - Monroe 33:04 56 52 129 Chris Verheul Louisiana - Monroe 33:04 57 53 202 David Axel Rice 33:05 58 54 256 Rodney Joseph Stephen F. Austin 33:09 59 55 92 Maurillo Sanchez Houston 33:10 60 56 144 Roland LeBlanc Louisiana State University 33:13 61 57 374 James Pulido Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 33:15 62 58 87 Sesar Figueroa Houston 33:16 63 59 209 Pablo Solares Rice 33:17 64 182 Matt Gieringer North Texas 33:23 65 60 158 Alan Foolkes Mcneese State 33:26 66 61 76 Cody Wells Baylor 33:26 67 62 377 David Rodriguez Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 33:27 68 63 143 Andrew Huston Louisiana State University 33:34 69 237 Soeren Linder Southern Methodist 33:36 70 64 126 John Carle Louisiana - Monroe 33:36 71 65 73 Rob Morrow Baylor 33:37 72 66 90 Ronnie Martinez Houston 33:42 73 184 Justin Kauffman North Texas 33:43 74 102 Jake Champagne Lamar 33:47 75 67 372 Maurice Harford Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 33:48 76 68 119 Justin Lemaire Louisiana - Lafayette 33:49 77 69 160 Robert Goodwin Mcneese State 33:51 78 70 314 Aaron Castro Texas - Pan American 33:58 79 103 Hamish Meacheam Lamar 34:00 80 71 89 Brent Henson Houston 34:04 81 72 322 David Trevino Texas - Pan American 34:06 82 73 146 Jarett Roche Louisiana State University 34:07 83 74 117 Ryan Dupree Louisiana - Lafayette 34:12 84 75 161 Nicholas Kay Mcneese State 34:17 85 76 157 James Bailey Mcneese State 34:19 86 77 140 Nick Accardo Louisiana State University 34:20 87 78 390 Brad Maciulewicz Texas Christian 34:21 88 79 366 Mike Chancellor Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 34:26 NCAA CROSS COUNTRY SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL NOVEMBER 15, 2003 UNIVERSITY MEN (10,000m) Ind Team Pl Pl Tag Name School Time _________________________________________________________________________ 89 302 Daniel Noah Texas - Arlington 34:29 90 80 223 Jose Rodriguez Sam Houston State 34:36 91 81 118 DJ Hebert Louisiana - Lafayette 34:37 92 82 319 Americo Ortiz Texas - Pan American 34:37 93 83 318 Benito Maldonado Texas - Pan American 34:42 94 84 115 Nick Bouterie Louisiana - Lafayette 34:43 95 85 389 Steven Lenney Texas Christian 34:45 96 105 Travis Tolbert Lamar 34:46 97 86 130 Danny Webster Louisiana - Monroe 34:48 98 87 145 James Presley Louisiana State University 34:49 99 88 391 Alex Morris Texas Christian 34:50 100 89 43 Brock Peterson Arkansas - Little Rock 34:54 101 90 369 Luke Funderburg Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 34:55 102 91 85 Jason Banes Houston 35:01 103 171 Jeff Draggich Nicholls State 35:06 104 92 321 Jason Tejada Texas - Pan American 35:10 105 93 218 Frankie Flores Sam Houston State 35:11 106 54 Philbert Amuzu Arkansas State 35:11 107 94 125 Matt Brophy Louisiana - Monroe 35:13 108 95 41 Peter Marston Arkansas - Little Rock 35:14 109 96 387 David Harris Texas Christian 35:16 110 97 207 Leor Pantilot Rice 35:30 111 98 39 Brandon Griffin Arkansas - Little Rock 35:45 112 236 Pablo Fernandez Southern Methodist 35:50 113 99 147 Benjamin Shumaker Louisiana State University 35:53 114 100 116 Chad Campbell Louisiana - Lafayette 36:04 115 101 69 Jason Baker Baylor 36:05 116 234 Stephen Downey Southern Methodist 36:16 117 102 162 Phillip Winfield Mcneese State 36:21 118 103 121 Ben Schexnayder Louisiana - Lafayette 36:35 119 183 Michael Hernandez North Texas 36:48 120 104 392 Raita Yamanouchi Texas Christian 37:36 121 105 120 Nick Meaux Louisiana - Lafayette 38:00 122 106 386 Chris Benassi Texas Christian 38:48 123 107 46 David Wallis Arkansas - Little Rock 48:37