UA hopes to rekindle memories of '91

Arkansas coach Chris Bucknam talks runners during the NCAA South Regional on Friday, Nov. 11, 2016, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks' men's and women's cross country teams are back where their SEC domination started.

The 2017 SEC Championships will be run today at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Ga., where in 1991 the Razorbacks claimed both titles.

At a glance

SEC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

WHEN Men’s 8,000-meter race at 9 a.m. today. Women’s 6,000-meter at 10 a.m.

WHERE University of Georgia Golf Course, Athens, Ga.

DEFENDING TEAM CHAMPIONS Men: Arkansas. Women: Arkansas.

DEFENDING INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS Men: Arkansas’ Alex George. Women: Missouri’s Karissa Schweizer.

TELEVISION A one-hour highlight show on the meet will air at 11 a.m. Nov. 5 on the SEC Network. Live scoring today will be available at SECSports.com and GeorgiaDogs.com.

The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville's men's team has won 24 SEC titles in 26 years and the women's team has won 17.

Arkansas has swept the men and women won titles in the same year 16 times, including the last four.

In the Razorbacks' first SEC meet in 1991 the men's team won with a perfect score 15 points -- taking the top five places -- and the women won with 30 points.

It was Arkansas' first SEC championship competition in any sport since moving from the Southwest Conference.

The late Frank Broyles, who as Arkansas' athletic director steered the Razorbacks from the dying SWC to the prosperous SEC, returned to his native Georgia to cheer on the cross country teams at the 1991 meet.

Lance Harter, Arkansas' women's coach since 1988, recalled the men's race was run first, but that the women's SEC championship trophy was handed out before the men's.

"I remember Frank Broyles racing the girls to be able to get up on the podium and hold that SEC trophy up with the team," Harter said. "That's a fond memory."

The No. 6 Arkansas women will be going for their 11th consecutive SEC championship in cross country and indoor and outdoor track.

"I'm sure that's pretty irritating to a lot of my peers," Harter said of the Razorbacks' SEC title streak. "But we don't take it for granted.

"Some of our conference foes are starting to specialize in either the sprints or the distances. So that just makes our job that much tougher."

Georgia's women's team is ranked No. 16 and Ole Miss is No. 22.

"We're ranked nigher than our opposition, but if we have a bad day there are plenty of teams out there good enough to be able to run right by us," Harter said. "That didn't used to be true, but the other teams are definitely catching up to us."

Arkansas junior Devin Clark, who finished second at last year's SEC meet to returning champion Karissa Schweizer of Missouri, is questionable for today's race because of a sore leg.

"We'll see how Devin feels," Harter said. "I'm not going to take any chances. I'll be real careful with her."

Harter said Arkansas will be led by seniors Nikki Hiltz and Therese Haiss and sophomore Taylor Werner and shouldn't be impacted too much if Clark doesn't run.

"We have so much depth," he said. "If Devin's on top of her game she's a threat to be in the top two or three like she was last year, but we have other people that can fill that void."

Arkansas' No. 27-ranked men's team is led by seniors Alex George and Jack Bruce.

George is the defending SEC champion and Bruce was fourth at last year's conference meet.

"Alex and Jack are in top shape and ready to compete," Arkansas men's Coach Chris Bucknam said. "They get anxious this time of year, and that's a good sign."

Ole Miss is ranked No. 16, but the Razorbacks go into the meet as the favorite considering their history of winning all but two SEC titles -- Alabama won in 2008 and 2009 -- since 1991.

"I wouldn't want it any other way," Bucknam said of being considered the team to beat. "It means that we're good and we've been good.

"But every year is different. We're just going to have to take this meet and prove again whether we belong up at the top of the podium or not."

Arkansas is going for its eighth consecutive SEC title.

"It's not something we really talk about at all," Bucknam said. "We just try to focus on the job at hand.

"We know for this particular meet, you've got to beat 13 other schools. We worry about everybody, not just one particular team."

John McDonnell was Arkansas' men's coach when the Razorbacks won their first SEC title in 1991 -- and the next 16 before he retired -- but Bucknam also has experienced winning a school's first championship in a new conference.

Bucknam was Northern Iowa's cross country coach when the Panthers won their first Missouri Valley Conference championship in any sport in 1992 after moving from the Mid-Continent Conference.

"It was a big deal for us at Northern Iowa to be in the Missouri Valley Conference and win a championship," Bucknam said. "Just as I'm sure it was for the Hogs when they won their first team title in SEC.

"It's fun to think about that. I hadn't thought about that in a while. Seems like a lifetime ago."

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Sports on 10/27/2017