Back on top! No. 1 Men's XC wins 26th SEC crown
Baton Rouge, La. – Earning a SEC Championship title in cross country on Friday at the University Club, the Razorbacks collected a conference record 26th championship among the 30 contested since Arkansas first competed in the SEC meet during the 1991 season.
Scoring 35 points placed the No.1 nationally ranked Razorbacks ahead of No. 8 Mississippi, the two-time defending champions, who were runner-up with 59 points.
“It was a great team performance for our guys today,” stated Arkansas men’s head coach Chris Bucknam, who collected his ninth SEC cross country title and 22nd overall SEC championship. “I’m really proud of them. The goal is to win the meet, and that’s what we did. It was a good battle between Arkansas and Mississippi.”
Teams scores for the rest of the SEC schools included Georgia (121), Tennessee (123), Kentucky (132), Missouri (151), Florida (200), LSU (208), Texas A&M (228) and Alabama (244) among the top 10 squads.
Arkansas now has the most SEC cross country titles in the history of the league, breaking the tie it was in with Tennessee 25. It’s also the 50th overall cross country championship for the Razorbacks, who collected 24 in the Southwest Conference.
“We’re so pleased to add to the tradition,” noted Bucknam. “It means a lot to us, the tradition here at the University of Arkansas and the teams that Coach McDonnell built.
“We’re glad we are able to add a great milestone, being the No. 1 team in the SEC all-time.”
While Ole Miss claimed the top three individual positions, Arkansas answered by occupying places 5th through 9th to place its top five finishers among the top 10 overall, separated by just 16.6 seconds.
Amon Kemboi led the Razorbacks, placing fifith in 23:47.3 and was followed by Luke Meade in sixth at 23:48.2, Jacob McLeod in seventh with a 23:51.3, Emmanuel Cheboson eighth at 24:00.8 and Matt Young placing ninth in 24:03.9.
Andrew Kibet finished 14th at the sixth Razorback in a time of 24:25.0 while Gilbert Boit placed 16th in 24:31.5. Ryan Murphy (24:36.0) and Myles Richter (24:40.8) came across the line in 22nd and 23rd place, respectively.
With the Razorback women winning an eighth consecutive SEC team title, this marks the 18th time Arkansas has swept the league cross country titles. The previous time in cross country occurred in 2017.
Men’s First Team All-SEC
Mario Garcia Romo, Ole Miss
Cole Bullock, Ole Miss
Waleed Suliman, Ole Miss
Kieran Wood, Missouri
Amon Kemboi, Arkansas
Luke Meade, Arkansas
Jacob McLeod, Arkansas
Men’s Second Team All-SEC
Emmanuel Cheboson, Arkansas
Matt Young, Arkansas
Sam Bowers, Georgia
Karl Thiessen, Tennessee
Chase Condra, Georgia
Trevor Foley, Florida
Andrew Kibet, Arkansas
Men’s Freshman All-SEC
Chase Condra, Georgia
Matt Duvall, Kentucky
Ethan Kern, Kentucky
Harper Moore, Kentucky
Eliud Kipsang, Alabama
Riley Buchholz, Tennessee
William Sinclair, Missouri
