Razorback women post 8th straight top-20 XC finish
MADISON, Wis. — Arkansas women’s cross country team concluded its 2018 campaign in Madison, Wis., this weekend with a 14th-place finish at the NCAA Division I Cross Country National Championships.
The men’s team ran to a 25th-place finish at the
2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships Saturday morning at Zimmer Cross Country Course in Madison.
“Obviously, we had high expectations as the season progressed,” said women’s head coach Lance Harter. “We addressed the issues the best we could of what we thought we’d see in Wisconsin, and it lived up to exactly what we thought was going to happen. We thought it was going to be bitterly cold and snowy, and it was, but I thought we did a good job of getting out and establishing ourselves in a great position.
“Unfortunately, we had an athlete have to drop out that’s a key player for us in Lauren [Gregory], and we suffered the consequences as a team in the scoring. We finished 14th. We always thought we could be a top-10 team. Obviously, that didn’t happen. We’ll regroup and head on to indoor.”
Dating back to its 14th-place finish at the 2011 Championships, the Razorbacks have finished in the
top-20 eight consecutive years, including four top-15 finishes in the past five years. Arkansas was the top Southeastern Conference team at the race.
The Razorbacks were paced by true freshman Katrina Robinson, who finished 41st with a time of
20:37.60 in her first national race. Robinson wraps up her first season on the course as a Razorback, missing All-American status by one spot to go along with her NCAA South Central Regional title and runner-up finish at the SEC meet a few weeks ago.
Carina Viljoen finished as the Razorbacks No. 2, crossing the line in 61st-place at 20:46.30, while Taylor Werner at 20:58.00 rounded out the Razorbacks’
top-100 performers in 81st-place. Sydney Brown finished 149th with a time of 21:26.10, while Maddy Reed finished 164th at 21:34.10 to close out scoring for Arkansas.
A three-time qualifier at the cross country national meet, Cameron Griffith led the men’s team and missed out on an All-American finish by two positions. The senior from Sydney, Australia, crossed the line in 42nd-place running 30:01.10.
Boit, who led the squad in every meet he competed in this season, finished as the Razorbacks No. 2 on the day with a 126th-place finish at 30:53.30. Ethan Moehn
(31:14.40), Colin O’Mara (31:26.10), and Matt Young
(31:54.70) rounded out the scoring for Arkansas with finishes of 166th, 186th and 214th, respectively.
Harter and Bucknam were named the women’s and men’s 2018 NCAA South Central Region Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Robinson, of Brisbane, Australia, was named the South Central Region’s Women’s Athlete of the Year.
Robinson’s first-place finish at the South Central Regional Championship marked the fift straight year a Razorback has finished in the top spot at the regionals. She competed at five meets this season, recording top-two finishes on four of the five occasions.
All seven of Arkansas’ runners earned all-region honors as Brown, Viljoen and Werner earned all-region recognition for the third consecutive year, while Gregory earned the honors for a second straight season. It was the third straight season Arkansas had all seven of its runners earn All-Region honors. The Razorbacks are the only team in the country to accomplish the feat.
Harter has been named region Coach of the Year
18 times. Arkansas has won 22 regional championships and 14 regional individual championships during his time as coach.
Bucknam is an eight-time recipient of the award, having been selected in 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015,
2016, 2017 and 2018. He has led the team to eight regional championships with three region individual champions.
Arkansas now turns its attention to the indoor track and field season. The Razorbacks will open their 2018 indoor track campaign on Jan. 11, hosting the Arkansas Invitational at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville.