No. 3 Razorbacks head into SEC meet as defending champions

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – No. 3 Arkansas enters the 2024 SEC Cross Country Championships as the defending men’s team champion as well as the highest nationally ranked team for Friday’s race on Texas A&M’s Watts course.

Coverage of the meet will be available on the SEC Network and the men’s 8k race will begin at 9:45 a.m. Live results from the meet are available here: https://flashresults.com/2025_Meets/xc/SEC/index.htm.

“We are in the championship season, and this is the first of two big championships,” said Arkansas men’s head coach Chris Bucknam. “We need to stay focused on this and not take anybody, athlete or team, for granted.

“We just need to go out and do our job. We have to be dialed in if we’re going to win it.”

The Razorbacks have won a total of 28 SEC titles in cross country, claiming three of the past four league titles as well as 11 of the past 14.

Ranked No. 3 in pre-season polls back in August, Arkansas has maintained that position throughout a season that has included team victories at the Chile Pepper Festival and Wisconsin Pre-Nationals.

The only other nationally ranked team within the SEC is Alabama at No. 11. The Tide, who recently claimed a conference team title in 2022, ranks No. 1 in the South Region ahead of No. 2 Tennessee, No. 4 Ole Miss, and No. 6 Auburn.

Following No. 1 Arkansas in the South Central Region are No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Texas A&M.

“All of the guys we have can be in our top five,” stated Bucknam. “We’ve got good depth, we just need to pull the trigger and get after it.

“There are a lot of good athletes from just about every school in the conference. The team I feel has a good top five is Alabama. We’re going to have to have a great effort, we can’t take it lightly just because we’re favorites. We have to be on point, have an edge to us, and take care of business.”

Arkansas returns each of the scoring five runners from last year’s team title when the Razorbacks scored 38 points from a 2-5-6-12-13 finish. Alabama was runner-up with 57 points off a 1-3-7-22-24 finish.

Patrick Kiprop led Arkansas a year ago and finished as the second individual in the meet. Ben Shearer followed in fifth place while Kirami Yego finished sixth. Rounding out the team score were Elias Schreml and Reuben Reina in 12th and 13th place. Schreml also finished 10th in 2022.

Additions to the team this season include Yaseen Abdalla from Tennessee, who placed third in the 2022 SEC Championships and finished fourth in 2023. Racing in the 2023 Mid-American conference meet, Akron transfers Timothy Chesondin and Brian Masai were second and third.

Camren Fischer previously raced in the Ivy League with Princeton while Davis Helmerich has competed in the SEC with Missouri. Other Razorbacks with SEC experience include Tommy Romanow and Jack Williams.

“The different athletes coming into the program from Akron, Tennessee, Missouri, and Princeton are among our cross country squad,” noted Bucknam. “I love it. It brings new energy into our program and it energizes everybody, including our veterans who have been here. It brings a new vibe and freshness to our program.”

While Arkansas and Texas face one another annually in the South Central Region, this marks the first time for the Razorbacks and Longhorns to be in the same conference cross country meet since the 1990 Southwest Conference Championship when Texas A&M hosted on its University golf course.

Arkansas claimed a 17th consecutive SWC cross country title in 1990, bringing its overall total to 23. Then the Razorbacks started a streak of 17 consecutive SEC titles in 1991.

“When I first got here there were 12 teams on the line, now there are 16,” noted Bucknam of conference expansion that has Texas and Oklahoma competing in their first SEC Championship this week.

“We take notice, Texas and Oklahoma are elite programs and they’re going to be tough to beat. It adds another vibe to the meet. You bring two national power programs into the league and it changes things.

Razorbacks | Previous SEC Finish

SEC Schools | Regional Rankings
Midwest | 3) Missouri,  8) Oklahoma
South | 1) Alabama, 2) Tennessee, 4) Ole Miss, 6) Auburn, 10) Florida, 12) Georgia, 13) Vanderbilt
South Central | 1) Arkansas, 3) Texas, 4) Texas A&M
Southeast | 10) Kentucky