No. 21 Razorbacks finish 21st in NCAA Championships

STILLWATER, Okla. – Arkansas finished 21st in the 2022 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning, scoring 507 points, as they matched its national ranking heading into the final meet of the season.

The Razorbacks were just 40 points from a top 15 finish as five of the seven representing Arkansas in the 6,000m race were experiencing the national championship race for the first time over the challenging Oklahoma State course. The scoring tally for Arkansas included 41-52-92-148-174.

“As I explained to our young one’s we were 40 points out of 15th place, which would have been the absolute goal, especially with this young group,” stated Arkansas women’s head coach Lance Harter. “To have three freshmen in the line-up is not a real smart by coaches, and then losing our No. 4 runner this week to a leg injury. It just seems a dark cloud followed us the past couple of weeks.

“We were here and finished in the top 25 in nation, which a lot of people hang their career on. We take it as a situation to build from it as this whole crew is back next year. We’ll look forward to a cross country season with more maturity and experience.”

Leading the crew was Isabel Van Camp, who placed 48th in the field of 254 runners, just missing repeating as a cross country All-America, which is designated to the top 40 finishers. Van Camp covered the course in 20:16.1. The eight positions from 40th were separated by only two seconds.

“Isabel has had a great season and in this race the conditions kind of got to her,” noted Harter. “Which is unfortunate because she usually rises to whatever the challenge may be. We’ll look forward to indoor and outdoor track with her. She’s stronger than she’s ever been, and she’ll have phenomenal seasons to come.”

Mia Cochran was the next Razorback, placing 64th in a time of 20:23.8, and finished as the fifth freshman in the field. Over the final 1k of the race Cochran split 3:40.7, moving up 11 positions.

Sydney Thorvaldson claimed the third position for Arkansas, placing 113th with a time of 20:42.9, while Taylor Ewert finished fourth among the Razorbacks, clocking 21:09.4 to place 178th.

Wrapping up the UA scoring by placing fifth among the team was Gracie Hyde, placing 211th with a time of 21:29.5. Hyde improved 10 places over the final 1k of the course. Also racing for Arkansas were Adoette Vaughan (226, 21:43.9) and Mary Ellen Eudaly (239, 22:03.9).

North Carolina State defended its national team title with 114 points as New Mexico claimed the runner-up position over Alabama (140-166) with host Oklahoma State (201) placing fourth.

Katelyn Tuohy of NC State was the individual champion with a 19:27.7 as Florida’s Parker Valby finished second in 19:30.9. NC State’s Kelsey Chmiel placed third in 19:37.1.

Teams: 1. NC State, 114; 2. New Mexico, 140; 3. Alabama, 166; 4. Oklahoma State, 201; 5. North Carolina, 242; 6. Northern Arizona, 257; 7. Notre Dame, 261; 8. BYU, 263; 9. Virginia, 268; 10. Georgetown, 271; 11. Colorado, 286; 12. Utah, 307; 13. Stanford, 371; 14. Oregon, 390; 15. Ohio State, 467; 16. Providence, 468; 17. Washington, 470; 18. Florida State, 471; 19. Wisconsin, 494; 20. Michigan State, 497; 21. Arkansas, 507; 22. Michigan, 534; 23. Syracuse, 544; 24. Oregon State, 544; 25. Colorado State, 548; 26. Utah Valley, 548; 27. West Virginia, 562; 28. Toledo, 654; 29. Cal Baptist, 659; 30. Northwestern, 714; 31. Texas, 983.