LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas’ men’s cross country team will try to run down its third consecutive conference championship today during the SEC Championship at Percy Warner Park in Nashville, Tenn.
The Razorbacks have won 19 of the past 21 conference team titles and are coming off a fifth-place finish at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational. Arkansas also returns the defending individual champion, Eric Fernandez, who goes into today’s meet with the secondbest 8,000-meter time in the field. Texas A&M’s Henry Lelei has the fastest 8,000 time in the conference at 23 minutes, 26 seconds.
Arkansas goes into today’s meet ranked No. 9 nationally in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll, which is the highest ranking among SEC schools. Georgia is No. 28, and Texas A&M is 29th.
“This is our most important meet of the year,” said Arkansas Coach Chris Bucknam, who also led the Razorbacks to indoor and outdoor track and field conference championships last season. “This is our first line of defense going into the championship season. It’s the only meet on our radar, and we realize we’re going to have to be at the top of our game to challenge for a championship.”
Arkansas’ women’s team will try to improve on its runner-up finish from last season.
The 12th-ranked Razorbacks have won 13 SEC cross country titles under Coach Lance Harter, including the last time the meet was held in Nashville. Host Vanderbilt is ranked No. 28 nationall,y while Florida is ranked 30th.
“We have no regrets as far as what we’ve done in training or what we’ve done in racing,” Harter said. “We’ve followed the season’s plan perfectly.
“It’s now a matter of going in to execute a specific race plan in Vanderbilt’s back yard.”
The women’s 6,000-meter race is scheduled for 10 a.m. Central, with the men’s 8,000 race following at 11 a.m.
At a glance SEC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
WHEN Women’s 6,000-meter race: 10 a.m. Men’s 8,000-meter race: 11 a.m. WHERE Percy Warner Park in Nashville, Tenn.
Sports, Pages 27 on 10/26/2012