FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas Coach John McDonnell said it with a straight face.
After 33 consecutive conference cross country championships, McDonnell said this year's SEC Championships will be a challenge. The eighth-ranked Razorbacks compete in the 8,000-meter race this morning at Kentucky Horse Farm in Lexington, Ky.
The Razorbacks have generally won the SEC titles handily, including last year's 52-point victory against Florida. The closest finish Arkansas has had was a four-point victory against Tennessee in 1994.
The 33 consecutive conference titles is an NCAA record.
"I think this is the first year in a long time it'll be tough," McDonnell said earlier this week.
Later, McDonnell promised he was telling the truth.
"I was serious," McDonnell said. "Alabama has four really good runners. They will match our top four, so it will come down to the fifth runner. That's how close it's going to be.
"I think our fifth and sixth and seventh may be stronger than theirs, but we have to do it."
The Razorbacks have 10 runners competing today who will try to extend the streak that McDonnell describes as the Razorbacks' most remarkable achievement. The top five runners are scored, and the lowesttotal wins.
Arkansas competed well at the Chile Pepper Festival on Oct. 13 in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks placed three runners in the top nine, including fifth place finisher Shawn Forrest, who missed almost all of last year with injuries.
McDonnell likes to use the Chile Pepper, a 10,000-meter race, as a midyear prep because it makes the shorter SEC race easier. The regional and national championships are 10,000 meters.
"Chile Pepper is not the high point," McDonnell said. "We've gotten better since then. We're a better team now than we were at Chile Pepper.
"Our training has always been to gauge it for conference and nationals. We try to be very close to 100 percent for conference and, this year, we have to be 100 percent to win."
The Lady Razorbacks are the defending SEC champions but are coming off a bit of a struggle at the Chile Pepper. Arkansas entered the Chile Pepper ranked fifth in the nation but dropped to 13th after losing to Texas Tech at the meet.
SEC Cross Country Championships WHEN Races begin at 10 a.m. today COURSE Men: 8,000 meters; Women: 6,000 meters WHERE Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, Ky.
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS Men: Arkansas;
Women: Arkansas TOP TEAMS Men: Arkansas, Alabama, Florida; Women: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia
Sports, Pages 23, 35 on 10/27/2007