Razorbacks win 10th consecutive South Central title, advance to NCAA Championships
WACO, Texas – Arkansas claimed a 10th consecutive NCAA South Central Region title, scoring 27 points on Friday morning at the Cottonwood Creek golf course. Isabel Van Camp and Lauren Gregory led the Razorback effort, placing second and third over the 6,000m race.
This victory marked the 25th South Central Region team title for Arkansas, dating back to 1982.
In securing an automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships, Arkansas (2-3-5-8-9) placed its top five runners among the top 10. Van Camp covered the course in 20:15.4 while Gregory matched that time in third place. The individual winner was Grace Forbes of Rice in 19:59.3.
“It was an awesome race by the entire team,” said Van Camp. “We did a really good job of working as a unit and it was a team effort. It was awesome to get out there and secure a qualifying spot for nationals.
“It was really about feeling good in the race, run hard and give it a good effort. The main goal was to solidify our spot for nationals and do what we need to do to ready for that race. There’s been a lot of learning experiences this season. This entire team is amazing, I have the best teammates and the best coaches. It’s made me like cross country a little bit more.”
Logan Jolly placed fifth as the third Razorback in 20:54.9 with Gracie Hyde and Meghan Underwood finishing eighth and ninth with times of 21:05.5 and 21:06.9.
Julian Paternain was the sixth Razorback to earn All-Region honors, placing 24th in 21:34.9. Carmie Prinsloo clocked 22:00.2 to finish 41st.
Rice finished second in team scoring with 96 points, to collect an auto qualification to the NCAA Championships, while Texas finished third with 101.
Arkansas dominated the field from the start, leading 31-118 over Texas at 3k. Then at 5k, the spread was 29-108, while Rice moved into third (110) after being fifth at 3k (133). The Owls finished ahead of the Longhorns by five points at the finish (96-101).
The NCAA Championships, in Tallahassee, Florida, will be held on Saturday, November 20.
NCAA South Central | Women Team Scores
1. Arkansas 27, 2. Rice, 96; 3. Texas 101, 4. LSU, 116; 5. Abilene Christian 135, 6. Texas A&M 182, 7. Arkansas State 202, 8. SMU 232, 9. New Orleans 244, 10. Texas A&M-CC 298.
