No. 8 Arkansas Heads to SEC Championships

October 28, 2015

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Since joining the Southeastern conference in 1991 Arkansas cross country has brought home 22 SEC titles out of a possible 24. The Razorbacks travel to the 2015 SEC Cross Country Championships, scheduled for Friday, Oct. 30, as the only nationally ranked program in the conference at No. 8.

Last year saw Arkansas claim their fifth-consecutive conference title under head coach Chris Bucknam. Since arriving in Fayetteville in 2008, Bucknam has continued the program’s tradition of excellence, winning not only five SEC titles but also developing three individual champions in Eric Fernandez (2011), Kemoy Campbell (2013) and Stanley Kebenei (2014).

The Razorbacks return four out of their scoring five from last year’s championships in Alex George, Gabe Gonzalez, Aidan Swain and Cale Wallace. Gonzalez (fourth), Wallace (eighth) and George (10th) earned All-SEC honors for their performances with George also selected as the SEC Co-Freshman Runner of the Year.

Adding a new dynamic to this year’s championship will be NJCAA transfer, Frankline Tonui who made an immediate impact during the 2015 outdoor track and field season in the distance events. The two-time NJCAA All-American has been among the top two finishers for Arkansas in every race he’s competed in this season.

Currently, four out of the five best 8K times belong to Razorbacks including George (first) 23:35.68, Tonui (second) 23:38.24, Austen Dalquist (third) 23:38.70 and Christian Heymsfield (fourth). Additionally, senior captain, Gabe Gonzalez checks in at sixth with his time of 23:50.90 while UALR transfer, Jack Bruce sits at 10th with his time of 24:04.20.

The men’s 8K race will kick off the SEC cross country championships at 10:00 a.m. with the women’s 6K following at 11:00 a.m. Awards will presented at 12:00 p.m. Highlights from the event will air on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 11:30 a.m. on the SEC network.

The USTFCCCA will be providing a live stream of updates featuring pictures, results and splits on their National Results Wall. Fans can engage in the event using the hashtag #SECXC on social media.

Meet Information
Air Date: Sunday, November 8 | 12:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. CT | SEC Network
SEC Championship Central
Host Championship Central
Live Results

For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.