No. 25 Razorbacks host NCAA South Central Region meet
FAYETTEVILLE – No. 25 Arkansas hosts the NCAA South Central Region meet on Friday at 10 a.m. on the Agri Park course. The men’s race will cover a 10,000m distance and the top two teams earn automatic qualification for the NCAA Championships that will be held on November 22. There is free admission to the event.
“We didn’t have a complete race at the SEC Championships and we’re going to need one on Friday,” noted Razorback men’s head coach Chris Bucknam. “We’ve had a great couple weeks of practice since the SEC meet. I’ve got everybody healthy and 100% again.
“We’re going to have to finish in the top two in order for us to get to the national championship.”
Live results of the NCAA South Central Region will be available through flashresults.com at this link: https://shorturl.at/V4U03. There is no live stream available of the South Central Region meet.
Arkansas is one of three South Central Region teams nationally ranked heading into the meet. Tulane ranks No. 23 in both the USTFCCCA and FloTrack national rankings while the Razorbacks are No. 25 and No. 28. Texas A&M is No. 32 in the FloTrack rankings.
In the South Central Region rankings, though, Arkansas holds the top position ahead of Tulane and Texas A&M with Stephen F. Austin and Texas in the fourth and fifth positions.
The Razorbacks, who claimed the 2024 South Central Region team title with 33 points over Tulane (76) and Texas (84), have reached the NCAA Championship field 13 consecutive times, following a third-place region finish in 2011, as well as 50 of the past 51 years.
Arkansas recently finished fourth in the SEC Championships, eight points out of second place, while Texas A&M placed sixth with Texas seventh. Tulane finished second in the American Conference behind Tulsa by a 35 to 41 margin.
“You look at the competition with Texas we beat them at Chile Pepper, they beat us at Pre-Nationals, and then we defeated them in the SEC,” said Bucknam. “Then you look at Texas A&M, we beat them at the SEC meet. Tulane is kind of an outlier for us. I know that they’re good.
“We’re going to have to have a complete race if we’re going to get this team to the national meet.”
Timothy Chesondin led the Razorbacks in the SEC meet, placing third overall, while teammates Ben Shearer and Brian Masai finished 10th and 12th. Tulane’s Bernard Cheruiyot finished second in the American Conference with teammate Silas Kiptanui fourth.
In addition to teams advancing to the NCAA Championship field the top four individuals not on an advancing team also qualify for the national championship race.
Men’s National rankings | USTFCCCA
- Tulane
- Arkansas
National rankings | FloTrack
- Tulane
- Arkansas
- Texas A&M
South Central Rankings
- Arkansas
- Tulane
- Texas A&M
- Stephen F. Austin
- Texas
- Texas A&M – Corpus Christi
- Incarnate Word
- TCU
- Houston
- UT Arlington
