No. 7 Arkansas headlines field at NCAA South Central Regional
FAYETTEVILLE – No. 7 Arkansas travels to College Station, Texas, this week for the NCAA South Central Regional meet and will race over a 10,000m distance at 10 a.m. on Texas A&Ms’ Dale Watts course to determine who advances to the NCAA Championships.
Teams can only race seven athletes in the regional meet. The top two teams from each of the nine regional meets being contested earn automatic qualification to the national championship meet that will be held on Saturday, November 21, in Terre Haute, Indiana. Another 14 teams will be selected at-large to create a 32-team field.
Live results will be available at Flash Results. There is no live stream of the regional meet.
“The top two teams automatically advance and what we’ve done during the regular season if we finish in the top four then we’ll get selected in an at-large spot,” said Arkansas men’s cross country coach Cale Wallace. “I’ve talked a lot with the guys this week that this is a prelim, same as a prelim at the conference meet in track.
“Winning isn’t the biggest thing this week to me. Winning a regional championship is cool, I guess, but the bigger things to do are next week at nationals. Our plan is to go out there and qualify as efficiently, and not using as much energy, as possible.”
College Station has served as host of the South Central Regional six times since 2001 and the Razorbacks have claimed the team title on each occasion. After hosting in 2001, the regional meet returned to Texas A&M in 2015 with the Watts course also serving as host in 2017, 2018, 2022, and 2024.
When the meet was known as District VI, College Station served as host in 1994 and 1995 with Arkansas claiming team titles both years.
Arkansas hosted the 2025 South Central Regional and finished as runner-up behind Tulane by two points, 44-46. It marked the fourth runner-up finish by the Razorbacks over the past six times the meet was held.
In a season that included a team victory at the Gans Creek Classic, finishing fourth at the Nuttycombe Invitational, and runner-up at the SEC Championships, Arkansas is the top ranked team in the South Central Region.
They are followed by Tulane, Stephen F. Austin, Texas A&M, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
“Tulane has a good group, Stephen F. Austin has a good group, I think A&M-Corpus Christi is in that mix along with Texas A&M and Texas as some of the bigger programs in that mix,” noted Wallace. “We know who to look for and kind of key off of when we need to.
“Everybody is healthy and in a really good spot. We’re ready to rip over the next 10 days or so.”
Tulane won the American Conference team title over Tulsa (31-56) with Silas Kiptanui leading the squad with an individual title. In the Southland conference meet, SFA claimed the team title with a score of 16 points over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (53) as the Lumberjacks produced a 1-2-3-4-6 finish led by Eliud Kipkosgei.
Arkansas has produced the individual winner of the South Central Regional in the last four consecutive meets with the following Razorbacks – Patrick Kiprop (2022, 2023), Kirami Yego (2024), and Timothy Chesondin (2025).
In placing second at the SEC Championships, Nick Busienei and Ernest Cheruiyot led the Razorbacks in placing fifth and seventh. They have led Arkansas each meet this season with Cheruiyot winning the Gans Creek Classic and placing 15th in the Nuttycombe Invitational while Busienei finishing second at Gans Creek and 16th in Nuttycombe.
