Arkansas finishes as runner-up in SEC Championships

OXFORD, Ms. – No. 21 Arkansas finished second in the SEC Cross Country Championships with 74 points to place behind No. 7 Alabama’s winning tally of 36 points at the Ole Miss Golf Course on Friday morning.

It marked the first time since 2012 for another team to win the women’s league title in cross country and halt the Razorbacks streak of nine consecutive victories.

Alabama claimed team honors off a 2-3-5-7-19 finish with Arkansas runner-up off a finish that included 4-11-12-21-26 while Ole Miss (83 points) had an 8-10-16-18-31 order.

“Second place against the team Alabama has put together was hard fought,” noted Arkansas women’s head coach Lance Harter. “Ole Miss, who I think a lot of people forgot, were 12th at the national meet last year and essentially had everyone back. They were a formidable team and we had to fight like crazy to hold them off.

“We would have liked to have won, no doubt about it. But if we take nine wins out of 10 tries, that’s better than most people can ever dream of.”

Florida’s Parker Valby won the individual title in 18:25.9 over the Alabama tandem of Mercy Chelangat (18:33.7) and Hilda Olemomoi (18:54.2).

Razorback junior Isabel Van Camp led Arkansas in placing fourth among a field of 148 runners. Van Camp covered the 6,000m course in a best of 19:05.5, which was an impressive improvement on her previous best of 19:54.7 from last year’s NCAA Championship race in Tallahassee.

“Isabel is always dependable, and we had three freshmen really come through,” stated Harter. “For Isabel to grab fourth place in this level of competition is very respectful. Now we tune up for regionals.”

Arkansas then had a pair of freshmen finish in 11th and 12th place with the combination of Sydney Thorvaldson (20:00.6) and Mia Cochran (20:01.2), both also generating their best times on a 6k course. They were the second and third best freshmen finishers in the race behind Olemomoi.

Thorvaldson’s previous best of 20:43.6 and Cochran’s previous best of 20:45.9 both occurred recently in Wisconsin this season.

Katie McCune, a senior transfer with the Razorbacks, placed 21st in 20:32.0 while senior Gracie Hyde came across the line as the fifth Arkansas runner at 26th in 20:35.7.

Freshman Mary Ellen Eudaly placed 27th in 20:37.2 for as the No. 6 runner for Arkansas with Taylor Ewert in the No. 7 spot, finishing 32nd in 20:45.3.

Adoette Vaughan (38th, 20:55.3) led the rest of the group which included Heidi Nielson (43rd, 21:01.3), Nyah Hernandez (56th, 21:15.8), Julia Paternain (57th, 21:16.5), and Mackenzie Rogers (90th, 2:47.7).

Arkansas races next in the NCAA South Central Region meet hosted by Texas A&M on Friday, November 11.

TEAM RESULTS | 1. Alabama 36, 2. Arkansas 74, 3. Ole Miss 83, 4. Kentucky 122, 5. Florida 147, 6. Tennessee 159, 7. LSU 201, 8. Texas A&M 208, 9. Vanderbilt 223, 10. Auburn 260, 11. Missouri 276, 12. South Carolina 326, 13. Georgia 395, 14. Mississippi State 414.