No. 22 Razorbacks ready for challenge of NCAA Championships

COLUMBIA – No. 22 Arkansas races in the NCAA Cross Country Championship over a 10,000m distance on the Gans Creek course on Saturday, November 22, with a start time of 10:10 a.m.

Coverage of the meet will be available on ESPNU starting at 9 a.m. Live results will be available through pttiming.com.

The Razorbacks, who have finished as a podium team in four of the past five seasons, enter this Championship meet with a seasoned crew. Arkansas placed fourth in the SEC Championships and were runner-up in the South Central Region.

“I’m focused in on these guys and how hard they’ve worked this season,” said Arkansas men’s head coach Chris Bucknam. “We didn’t have our best meet at the SEC Championships, but then I thought we bounced back at the regional meet and moved us up in the national rankings.

“We were on the course at Pre-Nats, with the exception of James Sankei who didn’t race that weekend. You have to get out and compete. It’s really a tough race, because every known distance runner that’s any good is probably in that race. Once we in the track and field season, the distance runners are spread out in various events. Everyone of those types of athletes are in this race on Saturday. So, it makes it a crazy competitive race.”

Timothy Chesondin has led the squad this season, winning Chile Pepper Festival and South Central Region titles on the Razorback’s Agri Park course while finishing third at the Pre-Nationals meet held at Gans Creek and in the SEC Championships.

In rankings from data this season, Chesondin ranks fourth among individuals behind New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel, Rocky Hansen of Wake Forest, and Washington State’s Solomon Kipchoge.

The top ranked teams entering the NCAA Championship race include No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 2 Iowa State, No. 3 New Mexico, No. 4 Syracuse, and No. 5 Virginia.

“You have to be on that day,” noted Bucknam. “A guy like Timothy is ranked as one of the better guys in the country based on a lot of different information. It’s all a matter of being in the right frame of mind and just like in any sport you have to go into the hurt locker and stay in it as long as you can.

“I also believe our other guys haven’t had their best race yet this season. I’m excited to see what’s going to happen. I feel like we’re just jelling right about now.”

Ben Shearer, 55th in 2024 and 42nd in 2023, will race in his fourth NCAA Championship race in cross country while it’s the third time for Chesondin and second for Brian Masai.

Other members of the Razorback squad – James Sankei, Owan Logorodi, Jack Williams, Eli Seavy, Donovan Bitticks, and Dawson Welch – will make their NCAA Championship debut.

“We’ve been on the podium four of the past five years,” stated Bucknam. “We thought we could make a run at the title last year and ended up third. A key is making sure we get out in a good position and hold that through the finish line.”