Razorbacks finish in tie for second at SEC Championships

OXFORD, Ms. – Arkansas men finished in a tie for second place at the SEC Cross Country Championships held at the Ole Miss Golf Course, scoring 64 points along with No. 17 Tennessee as No. 22 Alabama claimed the team title with 59 points.

The host Rebels were in fourth place, just one point back at 65 in a tightly contest among the top four schools.

“I know our guys are disappointed,” stated Razorback men’s head coach Chris Bucknam. “We were just a few points out of winning this title for the third time in a row. But I’m very proud of them. They ran a great race and gave it a great effort.

“There were four good teams battling out there and I did feel we had our best race of the season so far, which is a great sign when you get into the championship season. My hats off to Alabama for their win.”

The scoring tally for Alabama went 1-4-7-19-28 with Tennessee at 2-3-14-15-30. Arkansas posted a scoring line of 5-10-12-16-21 with Ole Miss at 6-9-13-17-20.

Patrick Kiprop and Elias Schreml paced Arkansas with a pair of top 10 finishes among a field of 109 runners.

Kiprop ran with the lead pack for a majority of the race and finished fifth in 22:56.2 while Schreml clocked 23:23.6 in placing 10th.

Alabama’s Victor Kiprop claimed the individual title in 22:39.0 ahead of the Tennessee tandem of Dylan Jacobs (22:42.8) and Yaseen Abdalla (22:45.6).

The next three Razorbacks to complete the team score were Myles Richter in 12th place, Jacob McLeod in 16th, and Ben Shearer at 21st. Richter posted a time of 23:30.9 with McLeod at 23:42.8, and Shearer in 23:57.7.

Competing in his fifth SEC cross country meet, Ryan Murphy was the No. 6 Razorback, placing 27th in 24:12.6, with Josh Shearer at No. 7 position, finishing 31st in 24:19.6. Jack Williams rounded out the squad placing 44th in 24:38.0.

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

TEAM RESULTS | 1. Alabama 59, 2. tie, Arkansas & Tennessee 64; 4. Ole Miss 65, 5. Texas A&M 126, 6. Kentucky 190, 7. Auburn 199, 8. Missouri 219, 9. Georgia 229, 10. Florida 234; 11. LSU 347; 12. Vanderbilt 347.