FAYETTEVILLE -- Leading at Friday's SEC cross country championships with about 200 meters to go, Arkansas' Alex George glanced over his shoulder.
George, a junior from Gloucester, England, was pleasantly surprised at what he saw.
Nobody.
"I thought they were going to be right there," George said of the other runners who had been in the lead pack with him. "I was scared.
"I was expecting to see someone, but they were well back. I was like, 'Oh, this nice.'
"I knew I just needed to sustain and I had it. It was a nice relief."
George won the SEC 8,000-meter race in 23:24.9 seconds at Arkansas' Agri Park course to lead the No. 5-ranked Razorbacks to the team title with 25 points.
"It wasn't a surprise what Alex did, but it was real cool to watch," said Arkansas junior Jack Bruce, who finished fourth in 23:53.3. "Just the speed he had at the end.
"Alex had his share of up-and-down races, but today was one where he just nailed it. I'm super proud of him for winning.
"I saw him pull away and it was good source of inspiration for me to keep kicking on the last bit and I'm sure for the rest of the guys, too."
George started to pull away from other leaders with about 2,000 meters to go when he passed Ole Miss' Sean Tobin and MJ Erb.
"It was a slight up hill and I put the hammer down and ran with some heart," George said. "I heard them breathing pretty loud and I was like, 'Just make them hurt.' "
George and Bruce were among Arkansas' five scorers who finished in the top nine as the Razorbacks held off No. 11 Ole Miss, which finished second with 38 points.
Tobin and Erb took second and third, but no other Ole Miss runners finished ahead of a Razorback as senior Frankline Tonui took fifth, sophomore Andrew Ronoh sixth and junior Austen Dalquist ninth.
"Ole Miss has got great athletes on that team," Arkansas Coach Chris Bucknam said. "So we feel good about the fact we really got pushed and we had to show up today if we were going to win this thing.
"We're really happy with how our guys competed, especially the second half of the race."
Bucknam said the Razorbacks and Rebels were separated by about five points in terms of their runners' places midway through the race.
Bruce said it was a bit nerve-racking to have the Rebels so close, but that the Razorbacks were well trained in how to react.
"Every time we practice, we always talk about the last [2,000 meters] and how no one passes you," Bruce said. "Definitely our top finishers, we moved up and kept everyone behind us away.
"That's the difference between scoring 25 points or 40 points, and today that was the difference between winning and losing."
George won his first SEC cross country title after finishing 10th as a freshman and fifth as a sophomore.
"I've always wanted to win the SEC championship since my freshman year," George said. "Now to actually execute a race really well is incredible."
George's winning margin over Tobin was nine seconds.
"It's just wonderful to see Alex win a big-time race like that," Bucknam said. "You could see it bubbling underneath him for the last six to eight months with his training and his focus and his attention to detail."
It was Arkansas' seventh consecutive SEC title in cross country and 24th in 26 cross country races since joining the conference in the fall of 1991. Only Alabama, in 2008 and 2009, has beaten the Razorbacks.
"Our guys know the history how important it is to run at a high level and to win SEC championships," Bucknam said. "I'm really proud of them all."
Bruce, who is from Australia and began his college career at UALR before transferring to Arkansas, said he's been amazed to learn about the Razorbacks' SEC dominance.
"I'm kind of blown away by the tradition," Bruce said. "To contribute to it and be a part of it is pretty special."
Sports on 10/29/2016