Razorbacks among top 20 in national preseason rankings
FAYETTEVILLE – Preseason rankings for the 2025 cross country season have the Razorbacks ranked No. 18 (FloTrack) and No. 22 (USTFCCCA) nationally, No. 1 in the South Central Region, and third in the SEC.
Arkansas enters its third season with Chris Johnson as women’s head coach along with its first season with cross country head coach Marc Burns. Headlining the team this fall are a pair of All-Americans in Paityn Noe and Sydney Thorvaldson.
Noe, who placed seventh in the 2024 NCAA Championships, is ranked No. 4 among individuals by FloTrack while Thorvaldson is at No. 33.
BYU ranks No. 1 by FloTrack and are followed by Oregon, NC State, Stanford, New Mexico, Alabama, Florida, Washington, Northern Arizona, and Oklahoma State among the top 10.
The Razorbacks, who placed 17th in the 2024 NCAA Championships, share the No. 18 nationally ranking with SEC and South Central foe LSU. Additional SEC schools ranked include Tennessee (22) and Oklahoma (31).
In the USTFCCCA national rankings, the Razorbacks are No. 21 while additional SEC programs include Alabama (9) and Florida (11). Receiving votes are Tennessee and South Carolina.
BYU tops the USTFCCCA national poll followed by Oregon, NC State, New Mexico, West Virginia, Stanford, Providence, Washington, Alabama, and Northern Arizona.
Arkansas is the top seed in the South Central Region for the 12th consecutive year. Tulane follows at No. 2 and the top five includes Texas, Texas A&M, and LSU.
The Razorbacks have claimed 13 consecutive region titles since 2011, and won the 2024 title by an 80-81 margin over Texas.
Voting by conference coaches placed Arkansas third in the SEC preseason poll. Alabama, receiving seven first-place votes, led the field with 23 points followed by 26 for Florida, who garnered nine first-place votes.
The Razorbacks had 57 points with Oklahoma (85) and Texas A&M (97) completing the top five teams. The rest of the top 10 includes Mississippi State, Missouri, LSU, South Carolina, and Tennessee, who will host the SEC Championships.
Arkansas starts the 2025 season on Friday at the Mizzou Opener and will race at Agri Park in the Chile Pepper Festival on October 4.
