Chesondin, Masai lead Arkansas at Pre-National Invitational

COLUMBIA – Behind a third-place finish from Timothy Chesondin and Brian Masai placing sixth, the No. 22 Razorbacks finished eighth in team scoring with 270 points at the Pre-National Invitational hosted by Missouri on its Gans Creek course.

Chesondin, who led the field at the 3k, 4k, and 7k splits, ran 22:49.7 on the 8k course while Masai, the early leader at 1k and 2k splits, clocked 23:11.6 to earn five team points.

“I was very pleased with Timothy, I think he stayed within himself and probably pressed a little bit,” noted Arkansas men’s head coach Chris Bucknam. “Those other two athletes kind of rode him and used him. Timothy led most of the way and they caught him at the end. Timothy is pretty elite and I’m excited about his future.

“Brian ran the best cross country race I’ve ever seen him run. He charged out there and had the lead for a little bit. Then he hung on pretty tight and didn’t let go of the rope. A top six finish in this field is phenomenal. He’s more of a 1,500m runner, so for him to do that I was really pleased.”

Florida’s Kelvin Cheruiyot won the race in 22:44.6 as he closed with a 2:44.4 over the final 1k. Wichita State’s Elkana Kipruto finished second in 22:45.6.

SEC schools claimed the top four team positions with Georgia securing the victory with 119 points over No. 19 Missouri (164), No. 24 Ole Miss (178), and Texas (183).  The top 10 included Loyola (Ill.) in fifth at 192 points followed by Minnesota (257), Wichita State (265), Arkansas, Purdue (291), and Florida (293).

“We didn’t run James Sankei, so that kind of hurt us in the team score,” said Bucknam. “This was a tough race and it was a little bit warm. Each time we compete we get a measurement. You can’t manage unless you measure and so we got a good measurement today of where we’re at.

“We’re going to have our eyes set on the SEC meet and a couple of SEC teams up ahead of us. So, we have our work cut out for us. We kind of know where we stand now and we’re going to continue to try to get better.”

Ben Shearer posted a time of 23:47.5 to finish third among the Razorbacks, placing 25th with 24 team points. Jack Williams placed 123rd and 114th in adjusted scoring as he covered the course in 24:58.6. Eli Seavey (25:05.3) completed Arkansas’ team score in placing 137th and 124th in adjusted scoring.

Arkansas will next compete at the SEC Championships hosted by Tennessee on Friday, October 31. Then the Razorbacks host the NCAA South Central Region on Friday, November 14.