Arkansas runner-up in Cowboy Preview, Schreml places third
STILLWATER, Okla. – A close team finish had Arkansas finishing second to host Oklahoma State in the Cowboy Preview on Thursday. Elias Schreml led the Razorbacks placing third in 5,000m race with a time of 14 minutes, 56.6 seconds.
The Cowboys totaled 42 points to earn the team victory with Arkansas runner-up with 51 points off a 3-6-10-13-19 finish. Texas A&M finished third with 52 points while Tulsa placed fourth at 78.
“We’ve only been together for a week and a half now since school started,” noted Razorback men’s head coach Chris Bucknam. “We haven’t been in camp very long, we haven’t been together for a long time, but this was a good opener for us.
“I’m just looking for effort right now. Its not about time, it’s just about guys putting in a great effort. If they do that consistently over the course of the season we’re going to get better. So, I thought we were off to a good start today.
Oklahoma State also had the individual winner in freshman Alex Stitt, who covered the 5k distance in 14:54.9 with Texas A&M’s Eric Casarez runner-up in 14:55.3.
As a middle-distance runner on the track, Schreml produced a solid start to his cross country season racing over a 5,000m distance.
“I felt kind of rough, but it was good overall,” said Schreml. “It’s the beginning of the season and it was more like a workout. It was good we were just racing over 5k distance, especially as a middle-distance runner.
“Cross country is not my best event, but I’m trying as well as I can to make the team proud.”
Myles Richter was the second Razorback to finish, running 15:03.9, while Ben Shearer and Josh Shearer, finished 10th and 13th with times of 15:11.8 and 15:18.1. The fifth runner for Arkansas was Jack Williams, who placed 19th in 15:25.6.
Reuben Reina and Tommy Romanow were the sixth and seventh runners for the Razorbacks, clocking times of 15:28.4 and 15:44.4, respectively. Additional Arkanas finishers included Ryan Murphy (32nd, 16:15.1) and Luke George (36th, 16:35.3).
“This is a really tough course,” noted Bucknam of the venue that will host the national championships in November. “Hopefully, we’ll be on it two more times. We’ll definitely be here for the Pre-Nationals meet in mid-October when we go from a three-mile race to a five-mile race. We’ll see how much we improve between now and then.”
