Bucknam earns 10th SEC Cross Country Coach of the Year, 26th overall

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Arkansas men’s head coach Chris Bucknam has been named the men’s 2021 SEC Cross Country Coach of the Year, as announced by the league office on Monday.

It’s the 26th overall SEC Coach of the Year accolade for Bucknam and his 10th cross country honor. He also has 10 honors during the indoor season and six from the outdoor season.

This fall the Razorbacks repeated as SEC champions in cross country, scoring 40 points to defeat runner-up Ole Miss by 19 points, and secured a 27th SEC title to improve their conference record total.

Amon Kemboi led the Razorbacks in the SEC race with a silver medal performance as Arkansas’ points came from a 2-5-10-11-12 scoring finish with a 21.4-second spread among those five finishers.

A successful cross country campaign continued with six Razorbacks earning All-Region honors as Arkansas secured an automatic qualification for the NCAA Championships, marking the 51st time for a Razorback team to compete in the national meet.

Entering the NCAA Championships ranked No. 9, Arkansas exceeded those expectations with a fourth-place team finish, matching the podium and trophy finish they enjoyed last March with the 2020 NCAA Championships that were held in the spring due to covid.

Three Razorbacks earned All-America honors as Arkansas achieved a second consecutive top four finish within a span of eight months. It marked the first time for that accomplishment by the Razorbacks since 2004 and 2005, when Arkansas finished third and second in consecutive years.

The Razorbacks produced a top four result for the 22nd time and a 38th top 10 finish in the NCAA Cross Country Championships.