No. 3 Razorbacks repeat team victory at Pre-Nationals

MADISON, Wisconsin – For the second consecutive year Arkansas has claimed the men’s team title at the Pre-Nationals meet. A total of 89 points produced the 2024 victory as a trio of Razorbacks finished among the top 10 individuals.

Patrick Kiprop placed fourth in a time of 22:43.0 over the 8,000m course while teammates Kirami Yego and Yaseen Abdalla placed seventh and eighth with times of 22:59.4 and 23:01.5.

No. 3 Arkansas, the top nationally ranked team in field, defeated No. 4 Iowa State (128), No. 9 Stanford (142), No. 8 New Mexico (166), and =No. 6 Northern Arizona (178) among the 30 schools in the seeded race.

The rest of the top 10 included host and No. 10 Wisconsin (199), No. 5 Notre Dame (200), No. 23 Syracuse (258), No. 24 California Baptist (312) and No. 20 Harvard (327).

Ben Shearer, who won the 2023 Pre-Nationals individual title, placed 18th in 23:10.5. The fifth runner for Arkansas was Timothy Chesondin, who finished 52nd in a time of 23:31.6 after falling down around the 3k mark where he was in 35th place.

Three other Razorbacks competing in the seeded race included Elias Schreml (70th | 23:41.0), Brian Masai (86th | 23:45.8), and Reuben Reina (168th | 24:25.3).

New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel won the race in a course record of 22:33.8, bettering the previous mark of 23:04.0 set by North Carolina’s Parker Wolfe earlier this season. The top nine finishers in the race bettered the previous course record.

Harvard’s Graham Blanks finished runner-up in 22:40.5 while Justine Kipkoech of Eastern Kentucky placed third in 22:41.8.

Kiprop and Yego were leading the race through the first 2,000m while Shearer and Abdalla were stationed in 22nd and 27th place. Abdalla moved into 10th place by 4,000m while Shearer advanced to 15th. At 6,000m, Kiprop moved back into the lead while Yego was sixth and Abdalla eighth.

Competing in the Open race, Tommy Romanow led the Arkansas crew in placing 14th with a time of 24:23.8. Camren Fisher followed in placing 31st with a time of 24:52.0. Jack Williams finished 41st in 25:03.5 while Davis Helmerich placed 66th in 25:40.6.