STARKVILLE, Miss. — Arkansas Coach Chris Bucknam said he was going to take a picture of his first Razorbacks cross country team and proudly hang the portrait in his office.

Bucknam is proud of his guys, not because they pulled off a miraculous upset in the SEC Cross Country Championship on Monday, but because of how they ran in finishing third. No. 5 Alabama won the team title with 32 points, snapping the Razorbacks’ streak of 34 consecutive conference titles dating back to the Southwestern Conference.

No. 11 Auburn was second with 62, while Arkansas finished third with 75 points. Alabama’s mother lode of talent — five Crimson Tide runners finished in the top 10 — made the meet seem like a race for second place.

“They didn’t run for second place and never talked about second place,” Bucknam said of his runners. “You run where you think you belong.”

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Bucknam said the Razorbacks ran aggressively from the start, knowing their only chance of winning was to break the Alabama runners early. The Crimson Tide held tough, though, and some of the Razorbacks faded after the hot early pace.

Senior Scott MacPherson was Arkansas’ top finisher in the 8 K race with an eighthplace time of 23 minutes, 41. 38 seconds. Senior Andy McClary was 11 th, Alex McClary was 17 th and Michael Chinchar 18 th.

Auburn’s Girma Mesecho won the individual title in 23: 11. 26.

“We charged out and tried to get in their wheelhouse and shake them up,” Bucknam said. “They held their composure well. Our guys ran a fearless race.

“ That may have cost us second place being so aggressive, but we were going to go down swinging.”

Bucknam said the Alabama runners asserted their talent and depth about midway through the race.

He said Alabama looked better than its ranking, but so did the No. 26 Razorbacks.

“They got control of the race,” Bucknam said. “Until then, we were doing what we set out to do. There’s not much more we could have done.”

Bucknam said he wouldn’t change anything he did to prepare the team before the race or how the team ran during the race.

Bucknam said freshman Eric Fernandez, who finished 21 st, ran hard with the lead pack before fading late, but Bucknam would rather see that style than a meeker one.

Fernandez and Rick Elliott made the All-Freshman team for the Razorbacks.

“A lot of coaches came up to me and said, ‘That was a great effort your guys put forth,’” Bucknam said. “It would have been a huge upset.”

Bucknam was encouraged by his team’s tenacity and improvement from its previous race at the Chile Pepper in mid-October. Bucknam won’t waste energy mourning the loss of the conference streak but will now focus his team on the regional and national meets.

“We ran into a buzz saw with Alabama,” Bucknam said. “It’s a three-round fight. We got more rounds to battle. We got knocked down but not knocked out. Arkansas fans would have been proud of watching our guys run.”

Bucknam certainly was. Men’s results

TEAM 1. Alabama........................................................ 32 2. Auburn.......................................................... 62 3. Arkansas........................................ 75 4. Florida......................................................... 107 5. Tennessee................................................... 130 6. Mississippi State......................................... 186 7. Kentucky..................................................... 192 8. Georgia........................................................ 227 9. Ole Miss...................................................... 245 10. LSU........................................................... 257 11. Vanderbilt.................................................. 292 INDIVIDUAL 1. Girma Mesecho, Auburn, 23: 11. 26; 2. Tyson David, Alabama, 23: 16. 26; 3. Elkanah Kibet, Auburn, 23: 20. 35; 4. Felix Kibioywo, Auburn, 23: 26. 98; 5. Emmanuel Bor, Alabama, 23: 31. 26; 6. Augustus Maiyo, Alabama, 23: 31. 95; 7. Jeremy Criscione, Florida, 23: 35. 05; 8. Scott MacPherson, Arkansas, 23: 41. 38; 9. Abraham Kutingala, Alabama, 23: 43. 25; 10. Andrew Kirwa, Alabama, 23: 53. 05. OTHER ARKANSANS 11. Andy McClary, Arkansas, 24: 00. 61; 17. Alex McClary, Arkansas, 24: 27. 55; 18. Michael Chinchar, Arkansas, 24: 32. 75; 21. Eric Fernandez, Arkansas, 24: 43. 51; 25. Lane Boyer, Arkansas, 24: 51. 41; 27. Rick Elliott, Arkansas, 24: 56. 44; 28. Duncan Phillips, Arkansas, 24: 57. 90; 37. Rio Reina, Arkansas, 25: 13. 56.