Individual And Team Glory At Regionals

November 11, 2016

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 7 Arkansas women’s cross country team pulled in some major hardware on Friday morning at Agri Park, capturing both individual and team titles at the 2016 NCAA South Central Region Championship.

It was the sixth-consecutive regional win for the Razorbacks and the third-consecutive year an Arkansas runner claimed the No. 1 spot.

Arkansas has won 21 regional titles – currently undefeated in the South Central Region since 2011.

Changing of the Guard
Southeastern Conference runner-up Devin Clark moved up one spot from the SEC championship to the regional championship, racing to gold in the women’s 6K competition with a new season’s best of 20 minutes, 17.40 seconds.

As Arkansas’ top-finisher through four races and a top-two performer at back-to-back championships this season Clark has truly staked her claim as the future of Razorback distance. She is the eighth Razorback to win an individual title, following 2016 Olympian Dominique Scott-Efurd who claimed the last two individual regional victories for Arkansas in 2014 and 2015.

All-Region Performers
Clark was joined on the podium by all six of her teammates including: Taylor Werner, Regan Ward, Carina Viljoen, Abby Gray, Sydney Brown and Valerie Reina who all finished inside the top-20.

The Razorback women were one of only two teams in the nation to have all seven of their runners earn All-Region recognition joined by the Colorado Buffaloes who accomplished the same feat at the Mountain Region Championship.

Guided by head coach Lance Harter the Hogs will turn their attention towards next weekend’s season finale in Terre Haute, Indiana.

The 2016 NCAA Cross Country Championship will be held on Saturday, November, 19 at the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course with the women’s 6K race kicking off at 10 a.m. CT.

Top Five Team Results
1. #7 Arkansas, 48 (1-5-11-15-16)
2. Baylor, 62 (2-3-9-13-35)
3. Rice, 93 (7-8-10-24-44)
4. Texas, 108 (12-17-22-26-31)
5. #29 SMU, 109 (4-14-19-30-42)

Arkansas Women’s Results (Overall Finishes)
1. Devin Clark – 20:17.40
5. Taylor Werner – 20:31.20
11. Regan Ward – 20:50.20
15. Carina Viljoen – 20:55.60
16. Abby Gray – 20:58.70
18. Sydney Brown – 21:05.00
20. Valerie Reina – 21:07.60

2016 Cross Country Schedule
Thurs, Sept. 1 – Cowboy Duals (Stillwater, Okla.) | 1st of 6
Sat, Sept. 17 – Southern Stampede (Joplin, Mo.) | 1st of 2
Sat, Sept. 17 – Riverside Invitational (Riverside, Calif.) | 1st of 20
Sat, Oct. 1 – Chile Pepper Festival (Agri Park) 10:20 a.m. | 1st of 18
Sat, Oct. 15 – Pre-Nationals (Terre Haute, Ind.) 10:00 a.m. | 5th of 42
Fri, Oct. 28 – SEC Championship (Agri Park) 10:00 a.m. | 1st of 14
Fri, Nov. 11 – NCAA South Central Regional (Agri Park) 11:00 a.m. | 1st of 20
Sat, Nov. 19 – NCAA Championship (Terre Haute, Ind.) 10:00 a.m.

Bold denotes a home event.

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