Arkansas Captures Eighth-Straight Regional Title

COLLEGE STATION, Texas. – No. 5 Arkansas women’s cross country team dominated the NCAA Division I South Central Regionals Friday morning in College Station, Texas, having all seven runners place in the top-15 leading to a 78 point victory for the Razorbacks.

The title is Arkansas’ second in two weeks following the Southeastern Conference Championship in Auburn, Ala. The Razorbacks have dominated the South Central region, winning eight-straight titles dating back to 2011. This is the 31st time that Arkansas’ women have qualified for NCAAs (eighth year in a row).

The victory earned the Razorbacks an automatic qualification into next weekend’s 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships in Madison, Wis.

True freshman Katrina Robinson paced the Razorbacks, finishing first overall and claiming the individual title with a time of 20:20.30. Robinson’s first-place finish marked the fifth-straight year a Razorback has finished in the top spot at the regional meet. She follows in the footsteps of last year’s winner Nikki Hiltz, who was the South Central Region champion in 2017.

Junior’s Taylor Werner and Lauren Gregory finished second and third, respectively, with identical times of 20:29.00. Carina Viljoen finished fourth (20:33.90) while Sydney Brown rounded out Arkansas’ scoring,  finishing in 11th-place at 21:07.20.

Katrina Robinson stellar freshman campaign continued as she captured her first South Central Regional title following a runner-up finish at the SEC Championships. In five races as a Razorback, Robinson has finished in the top-two on four occasions with the lone outlier being her eighth-place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison, Wis.

All seven of Arkansas’ runners earned All-Region honors as Sydney Brown, Carina Viljoen, and Taylor Werner earned All-Region recognition for the third-consecutive year while Lauren Gregory earned the honors for a second-straight season. It was the third-straight season Arkansas had all seven of its runners earn All-Region honors, as the Razorbacks are the only team in the country to accomplish that feat.

The Razorbacks make a return trip to Madison, Wis. – their third of the season –  next Saturday for the NCAA Championships. The races are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. CT as Arkansas makes its final push for a national championship.

ALL-REGION HONOREES

• Katrina Robinson
• Taylor Werner
• Lauren Gregory
• Carina Viljoen
• Sydney Brown
• Micah Huckabee
• Maddy Reed

For more information on Arkansas Cross Country including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.