Razorbacks Runner-Up At Hurricane Invitational

Complete Results

TULSA, Okla. — The No. 15 Arkansas men’s cross country team opened its 2018 season with an early-season effort, taking second-place at the Hurricane Invitational in Tulsa on Saturday morning at Mowhawk Sports Complex.

Arkansas’ top-five finished among the top-15 best in the field, led by sophomore Matt Young. Young, who competed a mere 18-miles from his hometown of Jenks, Okla., finished second overall in the four-mile race, completing the course in 20:14.

“We take every practice and every meet as a learning opportunity to test our kids as we prepare for the end of the season,” said head coach Chris Bucknam.

“I was happy with the learning experience for our guys. All the intangibles, how they approached the meet, how they walked up to the line, their mindset during the race, were all good. They gave a good hard competitive effort and they did things right after the race. We’re trying to create some good habits and establish a competitive season. Some of these guys haven’t raced in quite a while so there’s a slight learning curve, but overall it was a good start.”

Preston Cates finished fifth overall as the No. 2 for Arkansas running 20:30. Finishing right behind Cates was Graham Brown (20:42) in ninth-place. Carter Persyn was the fourth member of Bucknam’s squad to cross the finish line. Persyn posted a top-10 finish with a time of 20:44.

Redshirt freshman Sam Schillinger (20:45) rounded out scoring for the Razorbacks while Samuel Boone (20:46) completed the Arkansas lineup at the Hurricane Invitational finishing 12th-overall.

Next up for Arkansas will be the Badger Classic hosted by the University of Wisconsin on Sept. 14.

Team Results

  1. Tulsa – 36
  2. Arkansas – 37
  3. Oklahoma – 55
  4. Oklahoma State – 98

Arkansas Results (Overall)
2 Matt Young – 20:14
5 Preston Cates – 20:30
9 Graham Brown – 20:42
10 Carter Persyn – 20:44
11 Sam Schillinger – 20:45
12 Samuel Boone – 20:46

2018 Cross Country Schedule

DateMeetLocation
Sat, Sept. 1Hurricane InvitationalTulsa, Okla.
Fri, Sept. 14Badger OpenMadison, Wis.
Sat, Sept. 22Chile Pepper FestivalFayetteville, Ark.
Fri, Oct. 12Penn State NationalUniversity Park, Pa.
Fri, Oct. 26SEC ChampionshipsAuburn, Ala.
Fri, Nov. 9NCAA South Central RegionalCollege Station, Texas
Sat, Nov. 17NCAA ChampionshipsMadison, Wis.

For more information on Arkansas Cross Country including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.