No. 3 Razorbacks place 3rd, post best NCAA finish since 2005

MADISON, Wisconsin – Ranked No. 3 the entire cross country season, Arkansas placed third in team scoring at the 2024 NCAA Championships on Saturday with a point total of 202 points while three Razorbacks earned All-America honors for placing among the top 40 individuals.

No. 1 BYU and No. 4 Iowa State finished first and second in team scoring with 124 and 137 points. Finishing behind Arkansas among the top 10 teams were Wisconsin (212), Northern Arizona (237), North Carolina (246), Wake Forest (256), defending champion Oklahoma State (256), New Mexico (272), and Notre Dame (337).

This marks the 24th time in program history for the Razorbacks to place among the top four in the national championship meet. It’s the fourth time in the past five seasons for Arkansas to earn a trophy for a top four finish, having placed fourth in 2020, 2021, and 2023.

In producing its best team finish since a runner-up performance in 2005, Arkansas registered a fifth third-place effort in program history. Other years the Razorbacks placed third in NCAA cross country include 1981, 1982, 2001, and 2004.

Graham Banks of Harvard won the 10,000m race in a time of 28:37.2 over Habtom Samuel of New Mexico (28:38.9) and Furman’s Dylan Schubert (28:39.6).

Yaseen Abdalla led the Razorbacks in placing fourth with a time of 28:41.5 to earn a third All-American in cross country. Finishing behind Abdalla were Brian Musau of Oklahoma State (28:44.9), BYU’s Casey Clinger (28:45.1), and North Carolina’s tandem of Parker Wolfe (28:50.2) and Ethan Strand (28:53.0).

This is the third different school for Abdalla to achieve a cross country All-American. He placed 32nd with Texas in 2021 and 33rd with Tennessee in 2022.

With a 2k split of 5:46.0, Abdalla was in 56th place. Then he moved up 37 spots by his 3k split of 8:37.6 to reach 19th place. A steady progression over the next couple of splits had Abdalla improving to 15th, 12th, and 4th place with times of 11:41.8, 14:32.5, and 17:20.2.

Abdalla then occupied third place at 7k (20:21.0), 8k (23:09.1), and 9k (25:56.4). Over the final 1k of the race Abdalla produced his fastest split of 2:45.2 in finishing fourth.

Arkansas had the duo of Kirami Yego and Patrick Kiprop finishing two seconds apart in 20th and 21st place, while adjusted scoring had them in 19th and 20th with times of 29:13.7 and 29:15.7.

Ben Shearer competed the course in 29:34.6 in placing 55th overall, and 48th in adjusted scoring. Timothy Chesondin completed the Razorbacks team score as the fifth finisher in 30:08.3, placing 136th overall and 111th in adjusted scoring.

Representing Arkansas in the national championship race also included Brian Masai (190th | 156th adj | 30:40.7) and Reuben Reina (229th | 192nd adj. | 31:16.0).