Cross Country Begins Postseason Action at SEC Championships
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The University of Kentucky Cross Country program will head down to Aggieland for the first league championship of the 2024-25 athletic season, racing at the SEC Cross Country Championships on Friday, November 1. The meet will be televised live on the SEC Network starting at 10 a.m. (ET), with the women’s 6k set for a 10:08 a.m. (ET) start and the men’s 8k to follow at 10:50 a.m. (ET). John Anderson and Carrie Tollefson will be on the call from Bryan-College Station.
The races are set to be run on the Dale Watts ’71 Cross Country Course, located within the Hildebrand Equine Complex on the campus of Texas A&M University. This year’s annual league race will be the second in the course’s history, as it previously hosted the SEC Championships in 2015. The Kentucky men finished just off the podium in fourth, while the women finished in 12th position. Texas A&M has also hosted the NCAA South Central Regional on the course four times and is set to host the meet again later this season.
Alex Alston, Theo Bachmann, Miles Brush, Ed Bird, Sami Hattab, Alex Justus, Collins Kiprop Kipngok, Caden Miracle, Jack Pendergast, and Jackson Watts are slated to run for the Kentucky men. For the women’s squad, Jayla Atkinson, Noel Barlette, Morgan Dick, Ava Hendren, Ally Kruger, Phoebe McCowan, Chesney McPherson, Lyric Olson, Mollie Roden, Jenna Schwinghamer, Julz Williams, Baylor Wolfe are the 12 Wildcats to take the line.
In the men’s race, two ranked teams will toe the line, No. 3 Arkansas and No. 11 Alabama, in addition to (rv) Texas. The women’s field features a trio of ranked team—No. 7 Alabama, No. 14 Florida, and No. 28 Texas—in addition to (rv) Arkansas and (rv) Tennessee.
The Wildcat men enter the championships after three consecutive top five finishes in their regular season campaign, highlighted by two individual victories. Ed Bird provided the first win for the Cats, taking the Gans Creek Classic 8k title in a course and meet record time of 23:07.6. Bird’s time from his only race this season ranks eighth on the SEC Performance List for 2024. In the following meet, Collins Kiprop Kipngok closed his first regular season campaign with a statement win at the Bradley Pink Classic, winning by over ten seconds in a meet record time of 23:32.7. Kiprop Kipngok is the league’s fourth-fastest freshman from the 2024 Regular Season and ranks 20th in the conference overall.
Graduate transfer Jack Pendergast has had a stellar season for the Cats in his final year of eligibility, setting a personal best time in each of his three races, ending the regular season with his first career top ten finish at the Bradley Pink Classic. Senior Jackson Watts has also contributed valuable races for the Wildcats, running a personal best at the Gans Creek Classic and scoring in the top three for the team at every race this season.
The men’s team is looking to improve on an eighth-place finish from the 2023 conference meet. Kentucky was picked 10th out of 14 men’s teams in the SEC Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The team also sits in 10th in the most recent USTFCCCA Southeast Regional Rankings.
For the Kentucky women, junior Ally Kruger has led the way for her team in each race this season, leading the team in scoring and finishing in the top 20 in all three chances. Most recently, Kruger finished 14th at the Bradley Pink Classic. At the Gans Creek Classic in September, she ran a personal best 6k time of 20:25.6, good enough for 27th in the conference this season.
Senior Phoebe McCowan has enjoyed a breakout senior season for the Wildcats, as the London, Ky, native has run a personal best in both of her races this season while also contributing to her team as the second-leading scorer. Sophomore Lyric Olson has also enjoyed a successful regular season, as she has run a personal best time in all three races, highlighted by her first career top 25 finish at the Bradley Pink Classic. Senior Mollie Roden and graduate student Jenna Schwinghamer have also been consistent scorers for their team and have each ran their personal best 6k in 2024.
The women’s squad is looking to improve on an 12th place finish from the 2023 SEC Championships. Kentucky was picked 13th out of 16 women’s teams in the SEC Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The team also sits in 14th in the most recent USTFCCCA Southeast Regional Rankings.
Following the SEC Championships, the Cross Country squads will continue their postseason run at the NCAA Southeast Regionals on November 15. The annual meet that serves as a qualifier to the NCAA DI Cross Country Championships will be hosted by Winthrop this season in Rock Hill, S.C. The top two teams—and four fastest individuals from non-advancing teams— in each of the nine regions will move on to the national meet to be held in Madison, Wis. on November 23. 13 additional teams will be selected at-large to complete the 31-team field.
