Champions Again At Agri Park

November 11, 2016

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The sixth-ranked men’s Arkansas men’s cross country team picked up its second win of the postseason, finding success at Agri Park once again at the 2016 NCAA South Central Region Championship on Friday afternoon.

The championship was Arkansas’ 36th since its first regional victory forty years ago when the Hogs raced past Southern Methodist back in 1976 to claim the title by a 14-point margin.

With the first-place team finish the Razorbacks nabbed one of 18 automatic berths to the 2016 NCAA Cross Country Championship to be contested next week in Terre Haute, Indiana.

The Return of Ronoh
Former Iowa Central Triton Andrew Ronoh was the top finisher of the day for Arkansas, placing second overall in his second race of the season.

Sidelined with injury during the regular season Ronoh shook off the competitive rust two-weeks prior at the Southeastern Conference Championship where he raced to a sixth-place finish and earned first team All-SEC recognition. The regional meet proved to be even better for Ronoh who excelled at the longer race never dropping from a top-three position throughout the 10K competition.

Ronoh finished less than two seconds behind leader from Tulane, Emmanuel Rotich, completing the course in 30 minutes 0.20 seconds.

All-Region Performers
SEC Champion Alex George as well as 2015 All-Americans Jack Bruce and Frankline Tonui were also instrumental in the team regional-title run, finishing fifth, sixth, and seventh respectively.

Arkansas senior Aidan Swain completed the Razorbacks top-five, placing 22nd out of 141 entries in 31:09.70.

All four runners were named to the second All-Region team of their careers.

Head coach Chris Bucknam’s squad will face its toughest challenge yet next weekend as they journey to Indiana for the national meet.

The 2016 NCAA Cross Country Championship will be held on Saturday, November, 19 at the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course with the men’s 10K race kicking off at 11 a.m. CT.

Top Five Team Results
1. Arkansas, 25 (2-5-6-7-20)
2. Texas, 81 (4-10-11-21-35)
3. UT-Arlington, 135 (8-9-17-29-72)
4. Texas A&M, 150 (13-23-30-39-45)
5. Baylor, 170 (16-27-32-38-57)

Arkansas Results (Overall Finishes)
2. Andrew Ronoh – 30:00.20
5. Alex George – 30:18.30
6. Jack Bruce – 30:18.40
7. Frankline Tonui – 30:18.50
22. Aidan Swain – 31:09.70
37. Carter Persyn – 31:45.10
47. Kyle Levermore – 31:53.20

2016 Cross Country Schedule
Thurs, Sept. 1 – Cowboy Duals (Stillwater, Okla.) | 4th of 6
Fri, Sept. 16 – Battle in Beantown (Boston, Mass.) | 3rd of 15
Sat, Oct. 1 – Chile Pepper Festival (Agri Park) 9:45 a.m. | 1st of 18
Sat, Oct. 15 – Pre-Nationals (Terre Haute, Ind.) 10:35 a.m. | 2nd of 41
Fri, Oct. 28 – SEC Championship (Agri Park) 10:00 a.m. | 1st of 12
Fri, Nov. 11 – NCAA South Central Regional (Agri Park) 11:00 a.m. | 1st of 20
Sat, Nov. 19 – NCAA Championship (Terre Haute, Ind.) 11:00 a.m.

Bold denotes a home event.

For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.