LEXINGTON, Ky. - At least Arkansas Coach John McDonnell's week ended on a nice note.
Arkansas' cross country team didn't let damp and chilly weather slow it down Saturday as the Razorbacks won the SEC Cross Country Championship at Kentucky Horse Park. It was the Razorbacks' 34th consecutive conference cross country title, including 17 consecutive in the SEC.
The Lady Razorbacks made it a clean sweep for Arkansas, winning their second consecutive SEC title.
Another conference title couldn't have come at a better time for McDonnell.
The NCAA Committee on Infractions on Thursday stripped Arkansas' track program of its 2004 and 2005 outdoor national championships because of violations committed by former assistant coach Lance Brauman during the recruitment and enrollment of former Arkansas All-American Tyson Gay. Arkansas plans to appeal the ruling.
McDonnell wasn't concerned with that Saturday, calling the Razorbacks' streak of consecutive conference titles in cross country his greatest achievement at Arkansas.
"I take great pride in it because so many things can happen, good and bad," he said. "It's unpredictable. To have enough depth is really the key. To win something like this for 34 years straight is pretty special."
The Razorbacks won with 36 points, ahead of runner-up Florida (74). Alabama (82) finished third behind EmmanuelBor, who won the men's title in 23 minutes, 50.45 seconds.
Arkansas put five runners in the top 11 and seven in the top 26.
"The team did exactly what we planned," McDonnell said. "They ran as a pack. They didn't worry about going after the front-runner, and they won the team title."
Shawn Forrest led Arkansas, finishing third in the 8K race in 23 minutes, 57.39 seconds. Forrest never has finished outside the top four in the SEC Cross Country Championships. Arkansas' Tyler Hill finished fifth (24:10.64), while teammate Chris Barnicle was eighth (24:19.46), Scott MacPherson ninth (24:22.71) and Matt Munoz 11th (24:32.64).
Arkansas' women's team came into the race as the favorite and showed why, placing four runners in the top 10 to capture its league-leading 12th SEC title with 39 points.
Tennessee (84) was second, followed by Georgia (85) and Florida (96).
Sports, Pages 44 on 10/28/2007