No. 11 Razorbacks among five nationally ranked teams contending for SEC titleNo. 11 Razorbacks among five nationally ranked teams contending for SEC title
Women's Cross Country

No. 11 Razorbacks among five nationally ranked teams contending for SEC title

Contenders for the team title at the 2023 SEC Cross Country Championships will include five nationally ranked conference teams led by No. 7 Florida and followed by No. 11 Arkansas. The 6,000m race will be held Friday morning at the Charwood Golf Club.

COLUMBIA, SC – Contenders for the team title at the 2023 SEC Cross Country Championships will include five nationally ranked conference teams led by No. 7 Florida and followed by No. 11 Arkansas. The 6,000m race will be held Friday morning at the Charwood Golf Club.

The three other SEC schools who enter the meet nationally ranked are defending champion Alabama at No. 13 along with No. 18 Ole Miss and No. 23 Tennessee.

“The mission is still the same,” said first-year Arkansas women’s distance coach Megan Elliott. “Obviously, the goal is to win a title, so I think the team is dialed in. That’s going to be a tall task with Florida and Alabama, along with some others. The mission is still that same even though the coaching is different.”

SEC Cross Country Championships

Race time is 9:50 a.m. (CT) with live coverage available on the SEC Network.

In the three previous times South Carolina has hosted the SEC Cross Country Championships – 1997, 2005, and 2010 – the result has been a team runner-up for the Razorbacks each time with Florida winning twice (97, 10) and Tennessee once (05). Arkansas’ Amy Yoder won the first of three individual titles in 1997.

Over the past five seasons Arkansas has dominated the conference, winning 12 of 14 SEC Championships contested. The Razorbacks were runner-up in 2022 at the conference outdoor and cross country meets to Florida and Alabama, respectively.

Alabama scored 36 points in winning the 2022 SEC cross country title as Arkansas totaled 74 as runner-up with Ole Miss third with 83. It was just the second time the Razorbacks were runner-up since 2012 with the current conference configuration, having built a nine-year winning streak from 2013 to 2021.

While Florida had the individual winner in Parker Valby last season, the Gators finished fifth in team scoring. Transfers from Alabama and New Mexico into the Florida program have raised their profile for the 2023 campaign.

“Florida is the favorite, so we have our work cut out for us to try to bring home a title,” noted Elliott.

Florida recently finished fifth at Wisconsin’s Nuttycombe Invitational amid a field full of nationally ranked teams. Valby claimed the individual title over NC State’s Katelyn Tuohy by 12-plus seconds. The second Gator in the field, Alabama transfer Flomena Asekol, placed 16th. In 2022, Asekol finished seventh in the SEC meet as Alabama’s fourth runner.

“Our kids have been working really hard since August and it’s been a progression through September and October,” said Elliott. “Now is that championship time of the season, so they’re excited. We just have to contain those nerves and focus on the execution.

“That will be crucial since at a SEC meet the field isn’t as dense as a Pre-Nationals or bigger invitational meets. So, we’re going to have to key on certain individuals and where they are in the race.”

A young Razorback crew has one senior in Laura Taborda, who competed for Ole Miss in the 2022 SEC meet, placing 18th as the Rebels fourth runner.

Arkansas returns three freshmen from its top six a year ago with Sydney Thorvaldson, Mia Cochran and Mary Ellen Eudaly, who were second, third and sixth among the Razorbacks while placing 11th, 12th, and 27th among the field.

“We’re hoping to make that big step,” said Elliott. “We made a good step at Pre-Nationals, and we’re hoping to step it up another notch or two in the postseason.

A freshman who joined the Arkansas program this season is Paityn Noe, who has had an immediate impact as she led the Razorbacks to a team title in winning the Chile Pepper Festival and placed third in the Pre-Nationals meet hosted by Virginia as Arkansas finished runner-up to BYU.

Noe clocked 16:09.4 to win the 5,000m Chile Pepper race, the fastest winning time by a freshman. Then her debut over 6,000m at Panorama Farms had her posting an impressive 19:49.6.

“Paityn had a really strong finish to her outdoor season through the summer, so that’s kind of spring boarded her into where she’s at now,” stated Elliott. “She will combine with the experience of Sydney Thorvaldson and they are interchangeable as our leaders. Between those two they will probably be our front leaders.

“Paityn is taking care of business. Everything is new and she’s really excited. She wants to make her mark as a Razorback. Obviously, she did that in Iowa in high school and now she is here at Arkansas just trying to make her mark. She’s young, so we need to be diligent and stay composed when we see higher level competitors starting with the SEC meet.”

Others who have been among the Arkansas top seven among three meets this season include Nyah Hernandez, Heidi Nielson, and Mackenzie Rogers, who each competed in the 2022 SEC meet.

Joining the SEC fray this year is Tiana LoStracco, a transfer from Bradley, who placed 11th in the Missouri Valley conference meet in 2022 when Bradley claimed the team title.