UKXC Begins Postseason with SEC Championships
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The stretch run will begin on Friday. The Kentucky cross country teams will compete at the Southeastern Conference Championships, hosted by Texas A&M at the Dale Watts Cross Country Course.
The men's 8,000-meter race is scheduled for an 11 a.m. ET start, while the women's 6k will commence at Noon.
An awards ceremony will follow the races. Admission to the 2015 SEC Cross Country Championships is free and open to the public, and spectator parking is available.
Texas A&M will play host to the SEC Cross Country Championships for the first time.
The Kentucky men's team placed fifth and the women's team finished eighth at the SEC Championships last season. The UK men's team has finished fifth at SECs each of the past two years.
Kentucky has the 13th and 19th-ranked 8k runners in the SEC this season in Spencer Hrycay and Jacob Thomson. Hrycay ran 24:12.70 at the Pre-National Invitational two weeks ago in Louisville, while Thomson ran 24:19.20 despite falling in the initial stages of the race.
The UK men's team has some notable wins this year: an upset of then-No. 11 Northern Arizona men's team for second place at the Oklahoma State's Cowboy Jamboree and a second-place finish ahead of a Illinois team receiving votes at the time of the Bluegrass Invitational.
Hrycay and Zack Beavin finished 15th and 16th at SECs last season.
Katy Kunc owns the 14th best 6k time in the SEC this year, a 20:34.50 at Pre-Nationals. She and Aundrea Busse earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors last season.
Arkansas' Dominique Scott is the two-time defending SEC individual champion on the women's side. A Kentucky Wildcat was the last woman to win the title before Scott, as 2014 UK graduate Cally Macumber claimed the crown in 2012.
Arkansas is the defending SEC Cross Country Champion on both the men's and women's sides. The Razorback men have won five consecutive SEC crowns and 22 in the last 24 years. The Razorback women have won two consecutive SEC titles.
Four SEC cross country teams currently are ranked in the last U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll. Arkansas is the lone ranked team on the men's side, checking in at No. 8. On the women's side, Arkansas is No. 4, Mississippi State is No. 13 and Vanderbilt is No. 26.
SEC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Date: Friday, October 30, 2015
Time: Men's 8K (11 a.m. ET); Women's 6K (Noon ET); Awards Ceremony to follow
Location: Dale Watts Cross Country Course | College Station, Texas
2014 CHAMPIONS
Men: Arkansas | Stanley Kebeni, Arkansas
Women: Arkansas | Dominique Scott, Arkansas
SEC MEET RECORDS
Men (8K): Kemoy Campbell, Arkansas | 22:58.73 | 2013
Women (6K): Andreina Byrd, Arkansas | 19:07.21 | 2001
TELEVISION INFORMATION
Air Date: Sunday, November 8 | 12:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. CT | SEC Network
Commentators: Tyler Denning and Larry Rawson
RESULTS
Timing Company: Flash Results
Live Results:http://www.flashresults.com " target="_blank"> http://www.flashresults.com
Sean Cartell of the SEC contributed reporting.