Finish for UA men disappoints coach

Arkansas coach Chris Bucknam talks to runners prior to the start of the Chile Pepper Festival on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018, in Fayetteville.

Sometimes preseason polls are on the mark.

The University of Arkansas men's cross country team was picked in a preseason coaches' poll to be third behind Ole Miss and Alabama.

SEC men’s results

• Results from the SEC cross country championships Friday at Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky.

TEAM RESULTS

  1. Ole Miss 35

  2. Alabama 90

  3. Arkansas 121

  4. Kentucky 124

  5. Texas A&M 141

  6. Florida 160

  7. Missouri 162

  8. LSU 220

  9. Tennessee 221

  10. Vanderbilt 239

  11. Georgia 261

  12. Auburn 269

TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (8,000 meters)

  1. Vincent Kiprop, Alabama 22:51.6

  2. Gilbert Kigen, Alabama 22:55.4

  3. Waleed Suliman, Ole Miss 22:55.5

  4. Farah Abdulkarikm, Ole Miss 22:59.3

  5. Brennan Fields, Kentucky 23:04.3

  6. Cade Bethmann, Ole Miss 23:07.8

  7. Matt Young, Arkansas 23:09.3

  8. Thomas Georgia, Missouri 23:14.8

  9. Cole Bullock, Ole Miss 23:20.1

  10. Noel Rotich, Alabama 23:21.3

OTHER ARKANSAS FINISHERS

  1. Myles Richter 23:27.9

  2. Ryan Murphy 23:49.4

  3. Preston Cates 23:58.0

  4. Carter Persyn 24:10.5

  5. Jayce Turner 24:12.2

  6. Graham Brown 24:33.8

  7. Josh Shearer 24:54.2

  8. Hayden Dressel 25:03.2

That's exactly how the teams finished Friday at the SEC meet in Lexington, Ky.

Ole Miss won its second consecutive title with 35 points, with Alabama second with 90 and Arkansas third with 121.

The third-place finish matched the lowest for the Razorbacks since they joined the SEC for the 1991 season. They also finished third -- behind Alabama and Auburn -- in 2008 with 75 points.

"We're disappointed," said Arkansas Coach Chris Bucknam, who led the Razorbacks to eight consecutive SEC titles from 2010-17. "This is not our standard. This is not where we wanted to be.

"We've got to continue to develop the guys we've got here and recruit hard."

Arkansas, which finished second to Ole Miss last year 36 points to 44, wasn't expected to win Friday, but the Razorbacks might have been second if defending SEC individual champion Gilbert Boit had run.

Bucknam decided to redshirt Boit -- who will be a senior next year -- because he believes the Razorbacks will have a better chance to win the SEC title with him in 2020.

Junior Matt Young led Arkansas on Friday with a seventh-pace finish. He ran the 8,000-meter course at the Kentucky Horse Park in 23 minutes, 09.3 seconds.

Young improved by 34 places after he fell in last year's SEC meet and finished 41st.

"I thought Matt ran well and held his own with a group of really talented runners," Bucknam said. "After what happened to him last year, he redeemed himself and did an outstanding job for us."

Arkansas freshman Myles Richter finished 18th in 23:27.9.

"We just didn't have a good day after Matt and Myles," Bucknam said. "It wasn't our best race of the year."

Arkansas junior Ryan Murphy, running his first race this season after coming back from a foot injury, was 27th in 23:49.4. Also scoring for the Razorbacks were seniors Preston Cattes (33rd in 23:58.0) and Carter Persyn (42nd in 24:10.5).

Alabama seniors Vincent Kiprop (22:51.6) and Gilbert Kigen (22:55.4) finished first and second, but Ole Miss took five of the top 13 places for the team title.

"I'm disappointed in our result, but not disappointed in our guys," Bucknam said. "They always give a great effort."

The Razorbacks will compete Nov. 15 in the NCAA South Central Regional at Arkansas' Agri Park course.

"We've got a meet in two weeks at home, and the top two teams are going to make it to the national championship," Bucknam said. "I still feel like we're capable of doing that, and that's our focus now."

Sports on 11/02/2019