MADISON, Wisconsin – No. 3 Arkansas will be the highest nationally ranked men’s team in the 10:40 a.m. seeded 8,000m race during the Pre-Nationals hosted by Wisconsin on Saturday, Oct. 19, at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course.
A year ago, with the Pre-Nationals held in Virginia, the Razorbacks claimed the team title while Ben Shearer won the individual title. Teammates Kirami Yego and Patrick Kiprop finished third and fifth in last year’s race while UA newcomer Yaseen Abdalla finished second in leading Tennessee to a runner-up team finish.
With Abdalla now a member of the Arkansas squad, the potent Razorbacks face a tougher challenge in the 2024 version of Pre-Nationals. Among a field of 30 teams in the seeded race, 20 are nationally ranked with eight of the top 10 programs scheduled to compete. Teams are limited to eight runners in the seeded race.
“It’s important for us to get here to Madison, and get on this course because we’ll be here in November, hopefully, to run at the national championships,” noted Arkansas men’s head coach Chris Bucknam. “We’re just looking forward to getting our guys out there, we’ve been training hard and I think the guys are anxious to run against some competition.
“We’ve got the full team here this weekend and we’ll go out and test the course. We’ll try not to play all of our cards if we don’t have to. When you have great athletes they want to race. There are a lot of great teams and it’s going to be a great competition. It’ll be a crowded field, the course is going to be crowded. It’s going to have a nationals feel to it, no question about that.”
Following the No. 3 Razorbacks among the top 10 are No. 4 Iowa State, No. 5 Notre Dame, =No. 6 Northern Arizona, =No. 6 Wake Forest, No. 8 New Mexico, No. 9 Stanford, and No. 10 Wisconsin. The only pair of teams missing from the top 10 are No. 1 Oklahoma State and No. 2 BYU.
Additional nationally ranked programs include No. 13 Washington, No. 14 Michigan, No. 15 Eastern Kentucky, No. 16 Colorado, No. 18 Butler, No. 20 Harvard, No. 23 Syracuse, No. 24 Cal Baptist, No. 27 Florida State, No. 28 Air Force, No. 29 Texas, and No. 30 Utah State.
Other teams competing in the seeded race include Auburn, Cal Poly, Furman, Indiana, Iona, Lipscomb, Loyola, Michigan State, NC State, Tulane, Tulsa, and Wyoming.
A live stream of the meet is available on subscription service Runnerspace.com at the following link: Wisconsin Pre-Nationals stream. Live results will be available at this link: https://live.pttiming.com/xc-ptt.html?mid=7515.
“Ben Shearer won this race last year in Virginia,” said Bucknam. “Patrick Kiprop and Yaseen Abdalla haven’t run yet, so it will be fun to get them out on the course to stretch their legs and see where they’re at.
“It’s kind of a little fitness test for me to see where everybody is and how kids are approaching the competition. How they carry themselves pre-meet and post-meet. We’ll try to learn a little about them on the mental side too.”
The squad of Razorbacks racing on Saturday also includes Timothy Chesondin and Brian Masai, a pair of transfers from Akron, along with Camren Fischer, Davis Helmerich, Reuben Reina, Tommy Romanow, Elias Schreml and Jack Williams.
“Last year was a learning experience and coach told me to just get in the race and work with your teammates, who includes really talented individuals in Kirami Yego and Patrick Kiprop among others,” stated Shearer.
“This year we’re bringing some of those same guys back and have some new guys with us. It’s just a good test of fitness coming up this weekend. Last year really showed a test of fitness as well to go towards nationals with that same energy. We’re looking to do the same this year.”
For fans attending this year’s Wisconsin Pre-Nationals, an admission ticket is $20, which includes a shuttle ride, and a parking permit is $5. One parking permit is required per vehicle and an admission ticket is required for each individual riding the bus.
Spectators are encouraged to purchase parking and tickets in advance. All transactions, including on-site sales, will be cashless. Fans can purchase parking and tickets at this link: https://web.cvent.com/event/9b575648-577c-44c9-bd58-f7bc15d5d2f2/summary.
