BIRMINGHAM – Close voting among conference coaches in the 2022 cross country preseason poll has Arkansas predicted to finish second in the SEC Championship this fall behind Alabama.
Alabama garnered eight first-place votes compared to six for the Razorbacks, producing a one-point edge, 20-22, for the team favored to win the team title in Oxford, Mississippi, this October.
Points for the women’s poll were awarded on a 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13 basis. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own team.
Arkansas has claimed nine consecutive SEC titles in cross country with a total of 22 since joining the league in 1991. The Razorbacks have finished runner-up seven times among the nine times they haven’t been team champions.
The Crimson Tide, third last season and runner-up in 2020, previously won the SEC cross country title in consecutive years in 1986 and 1987. Alabama has been runner-up in the league seven times since 1983.
The Razorbacks season begins this week with a trip to Oklahoma State on Thursday, September 1, for the Cowboy Preview as the Razorbacks race over a 3,000m course.
2022 SEC Cross Country Coaches’ Preseason Poll
(parenthesis indicate first-place votes)
| Rank | School | Points |
| 1 | Alabama (8) | 20 |
| 2 | Arkansas (6) | 22 |
| 3 | Ole Miss | 39 |
| 4 | Florida | 53 |
| 5 | Kentucky | 55 |
| T6 | Tennessee | 90 |
| T6 | Texas A&M | 90 |
| 8 | Missouri | 104 |
| 9 | LSU | 107 |
| 10 | Vanderbilt | 109 |
| 11 | Auburn | 118 |
| 12 | Georgia | 152 |
| 13 | South Carolina | 155 |
| 14 | Mississippi State | 161 |