Patrick Kiprop earns All-America, Arkansas 23rd in NCAA Championships

STILLWATER, Okla. – No. 20 Arkansas finished 23rd in the final cross country meet of the season, scoring 584 points in the NCAA Championships hosted by Oklahoma State on Saturday morning.

Patrick Kiprop led the Razorback squad, placing 24th to earn an All-America honor as he covered the 10,000m course in 29:27.1. The scoring tally for UA included 23-116-131-146-168.

This marked the third consecutive year for an Arkansas All-America in cross country, reaching a total of seven honors in that span. The Razorbacks have earned All-America honors in 13 of the past 15 cross country seasons.

“Patrick did a great job, got himself in the race right away,” said Arkansas men’s head coach Chris Bucknam. “He looked comfortable most of the way. To finish in the top 25 in his first Division I cross country championship is outstanding. He stuck his nose in there and did a phenomenal job for us.

“As far as the team is concerned, we were looking for a top 20 finish, and didn’t quite get there in placing 23rd. I’m proud of this team as for how they competed. They were all dialed in, and just didn’t have our best race today. We still beat some teams that finished ahead of us earlier this season like Montana State and Alabama.”

Myles Richter finished as the second Arkansas runner in the field of 255 runners, placing 139th with a time of 30:31.0. Ben Shearer was 155th as the third Razorback, covering the course in 30:37.9 as he improved 11 places over the final 1k with a split of 3:13.5. Shearer was 12th among the freshmen in the field.

Jacob McLeod finished 175th with a 30:47.8 while Elias Schreml ran 31:04.6 to place 201st as the pair competed the Razorbacks team score. Ryan Murphy (207th, 31:08.5) and Josh Shearer (243rd, 32:08.8) were the sixth and seventh Arkansas runners in the field.

Stanford’s Charles Hicks won the individual title in 28:43.6 over the Northern Arizona tandem of Nico Young (28:44.5) and Drew Bosley (28:55.9). Dylan Jacobs of Tennessee finished fourth in 28:58.0.

Northern Arizona (2-3-18-24-36) and host Oklahoma State (5-8-11-29-30) finished in a tie with 83 points apiece, and the Lumberjacks claimed the championship trophy once again with a 3-2 edge in the tie-breaker. BYU scored 132 to place third as Stanford finished fourth with 195.

Tennessee placed 20th to lead the SEC schools in the field with Arkansas following in 23rd while Ole Miss and Alabama finished 24th and 27th.

Teams: 1. Northern Arizona, 83 (wins tie-breaker, 3-2); 2. Oklahoma State, 83; 3. BYU, 132; 4. Stanford, 195; 5. Wake Forest, 204; 6. Wisconsin, 212; 7. Air Force, 264; 8. Colorado, 281; 9. Tulsa, 304; 10. North Carolina, 323; 11. NC State, 334; 12. Syracuse, 340; 13. Gonzaga, 400; 14. Washington 422; 15. Notre Dame, 450; 16. Oregon, 465; 17. Harvard, 474; 18. Texas, 506; 19. Villanova, 513; 20. Tennessee, 517; 21. Butler, 553; 22. Virginia, 557; 23. Arkansas, 584; 24. Ole Miss, 598; 25. Montana State, 599; 26. Utah State, 618; 27. Alabama, 683; 28. Colorado State, 704; 29. Michigan, 708; 30. Princeton, 712; 31. Georgetown, 752.