BIRMINGHAM – An impressive victory at the Virginia Pre-Nationals earned Arkansas sophomore Ben Shearer the SEC Runner of the Week honor, the conference office announced.
Shearer produced a career best of 22:55.0 in the rain on the 8,000m course at Panorama Farms facility that will host the NCAA Championships in November.
The time by Shearer is the second fastest by a SEC runner over the past 15 years during a regular season meet, trailing only a 22:54.8 by Alabama’s Victor Kiprop on the Florida State Pre-Nationals course in 2021.
The previous 8k best of 23:36.6 by Shearer was set in placing second to teammate Kirami Yego’s winning time of 23:14.1 at the Chile Pepper Festival two weeks prior.
In leading the Razorbacks to a team victory, Shearer closed strong with a 2:39.4 split over the final 1,000m to win the race by 3.6 seconds. In a previous race on the Virginia course in September a winning time of 23:20.3 was registered by Northern Arizona’s Drew Bosley under similar wet conditions.