No. 5 Hogs Louisville-Bound For Regular Season Finale
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Fresh off its strong home stand at the Chile Pepper Festival, the No. 5 Arkansas men’s cross country team will travel to Louisville, Kentucky Saturday, Oct. 14 for its regular season finale, Pre-Nationals.
“I’m glad we’re going, the course has changed,” head coach Chris Bucknam said. “We were there a few years ago for the NCAA Championships and for Pre-Nats and they have changed the course a little bit since then, so I’m glad that were going to go back and preview the course.”
Let’s Look at the Standings
The Razorbacks continue to hold on to their position among the top-five best programs in the latest USTFCCCA National Coaches’ Poll. Arkansas also remains the top-ranked team in the South Central Region for the fourth-consecutive week. In addition to Arkansas, Pre-Nationals will feature three other top-10 ranked programs including No. 2 BYU, No. 7 Colorado and No. 8 Oregon.
Nationally Ranked Teams at Pre-Nationals: No. 2 BYU, No. 5 Arkansas, No 7 Colorado, No. 8 Oregon, No. 19 Georgetown, No. 24 Ole Miss and No. 27 Utah State.
Lining Up for the Hogs
All-American senior duo Jack Bruce and Alex George will headline the talented Razorback squad in Louisville. The pair recently finished 1-3 at Agri Park, George leading the way to Arkansas’ Chile Pepper Festival 10K team title.
“I always planned on opening up at Chile Pepper but wasn’t really worried about the results, I just wanted to test my fitness,” Bruce said. “I’m a long way ahead of where I was last year and I’m looking forward to Pre-Nats and SECs.”
Fellow senior Austen Dalquist will also be racing for the Hogs this weekend at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville. Dalquist had a breakout performance at the 2015 edition of Pre-Nationals on that course, leading Arkansas to a third-place finish as the Razorbacks’ top runner.
Bruce, Dalquist and George will be accompanied in the 8K red seeded race by junior trio, Cameron Griffith, Ethan Moehn and Kyle Levermore. Western State transfer Preston Cates will round out the Razorbacks top-seven.
Pre-Nationals will begin at 9 a.m. CT Saturday. A live stream will also be available to viewers at home who subscribe to FloTrack.
2017 Cross Country Schedule
Fri, Sept. 1 – Cowboy Preview (Stillwater, Okla.) 1st of 4
Fri, Sept. 15 – Iona College Meet of Champions (New York, N.Y.) 2nd of 7
Sat, Sept. 30 – Chile Pepper Festival (Agri Park) 1st of 40
Sat, Oct. 14 – Pre-Nationals (Louisville, Ky.)
Fri, Oct. 27 – SEC Championship (Athens, Ga.)
Fri, Nov. 10 – NCAA South Central Regional (College Station, Texas)
Sat, Nov. 18 – NCAA Championship (Louisville, Ky.)
*italicized meet denotes completion.
For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.
