FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - On Monday the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced its fifth NCAA Division I regional ranking of the season and the Arkansas men’s cross country team remained the No. 1 team in the South Central Region.
The Razorbacks were able to hold on to their No. 1 ranking in the NCAA Division I South Central Region by claiming the team title at the 2014 Chile Pepper Invite at Agri Park last Saturday. This week’s top spot in the South Central Region marks the 12th straight USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Regional Rankings Poll that Arkansas has claimed the top spot.
For the 11th straight week, the Texas Longhorns were placed a spot behind the Razorbacks for second and Lamar took the No. 3 spot for the second straight week. Southeastern Conference foe, Texas A&M, came in at No. 4 and North Texas claimed the poll’s fifth spot.
Last weekend, the No. 17 Razorbacks placed five runners inside the top 20 to pick up the team title at the 26th Annual Chile Pepper Festival.
Senior Stanley Kebenei turned in a remarkable performance on Saturday morning, as the All-American collected his first individual title of the 2014 season. Kebenei collected a season-best 8K time of 23:53.50 to pick up the first place finish on Saturday and pace anArkansas Razorback men’s cross country team that ran away from the competition, as its scoring rotation collected 51 points to win the Chile Pepper Festival for the second straight season.
It was a thrilling finish, as the Kenyan native defeated fellow countryman and 2013 NCAA 3,000m Steeplechase National Champion, Anthony Rotich of UTEP by exactly one second to claim the fourth individual title of his Arkansas career.
Redshirt junior Gabe Gonzalez earned his third top five finish of the year, as he crossed the finish line in 24:14.10 to place fifth. Freshman Alex George followed up his strong showing at the Iona Meet of Champions with an 8K personal-best time of 24:26.40 to place 11th.
The Razorbacks will be back in action on Oct. 17, as they travel north to Madison, Wis., to participate in the 2014 Wisconsin adidas Invitational. Race time is slated for an 11 a.m. start.
For more information on Arkansas men’s cross country, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.