Men's cross wins at Joplin

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – With a runner-up finish, junior Lane Boyer paced the Arkansas Razorback men’s cross country team to their second team title of the season at Saturday’s Missouri Southern Stampede.

"We are making progress," head coach Chris Bucknam said. "Lane Boyer had a great race. He stayed relaxed and patient. Rick Elliott was another guy who stepped up. We had a lot of guys clock personal bests and that’s what it’s all about – going out and getting better every week."

The Razorbacks outscored second-place finisher Pittsburgh State, 48-131. Arkansas scored three runners in the top 10, five in the top 18 and all finishers in the top 28.

Boyer, a junior from Fredonia, Kan., was the runner-up in the men’s 8,000-meter race. He clocked a time of 23:23.05. He replaced his previous 8K personal best, 24:40.0, by more than one minute. Freshman Solomon Haile was the second Razorback to cross the finish line and was eighth overall. He clocked a time of 24:01.79. Sophomore Rick Elliott, making his 2009 debut, was 12th overall and the third Razorback finisher. He clocked a 24:09.58, replacing his previous 8K best of 24:56.44 by 45 seconds.

"I felt great out there," Boyer said. "I just tried to stay relaxed. I cruised through 5K and then had to do some work during the last 3K. I tried to steadily move up on the leaders and I almost caught (race winner) Daniel Kirwa. This was a very solid team effort. We all ran well and a lot of us had personal bests."

Freshman Cameron Efurd, making his Razorback debut, was fourth among the Hogs and 19th overall with his 8,000-meter time of 24:35.56. Junior Michael Chinchar rounded out the Razorback scoring five with a 22nd-place finish and a time of 24:46.61.

Also competing for Arkansas were junior Patrick Russell (23rd, 24:47.43), freshman Aaron Hamilton (24:48.97) and senior Rio Reina (28th, 24:52.59).

Arkansas Razorback men’s cross country will compete next at the Wisconsin Invitational, Oct. 3, in Madison, Wis. For more information, visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

Download: Arkansas Men’s Dual Meet.pdf