FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Friday was a bronze day for the Kentucky cross country program.
Katy Kunc started it off with a Southeastern Conference bronze-medal performance. Then the Kentucky men’s team placed third in the SEC team competition, earning their best conference finish since finishing in the same place in 1991 and 1992.
Men’s team report
The Wildcats entered the conference championships having shown their potential to reach heights the program hadn’t seen in decades throughout this cross country season.
They turned in a strong team performance to deliver a measure of that promise on Friday finishing with 100 points. Host Arkansas won the SEC title on 25 points, with all five scorers placing in the top-10, while Ole Miss placed second on 38.
Cross country meet team scores are calculated by adding up the values of each teams’ top-five placers finishes, with the low score winning.
Jacob Thomson led the way for the Wildcats, placing seventh in an 8,000-meter time of 24:03.60.
Mick Iacofano was UK’s No. 2 finisher, 17th overall, running 24:49.60, a 2.2 second improvement from his 48th-place time at SECs a year ago.
Ben Young placed 21st in 24:57.90. Kendall Muhammad and Daniel Southard rounded out Kentucky’s scoring, placing 27th and 28th respectively with times of 25:10.50 and 25:15.70.
Thomson earned All-SEC Cross Country honors for the second season in a row by virtue of his top-seven finish.
Matthew Thomas — 46th overall in 225:36.60 — and Brennan Fields — 48th overall in 25:40.50 — earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors, as they finished among the top-seven freshmen in the field. Thomas and Fields were third and fourth, respectively, among freshmen.
Women’s team report
Kunc, who’s shown strong form all fall, earned the best result of her career claiming her first SEC medal – a bronze – with a 6k time of 20:39.30.
She led Kentucky to a seventh-place finish with 180 points, a significant improvement from 12th-place a year ago. Kentucky was 10 points behind the fifth and sixth place scores of 170 (Vanderbilty and Alabama). Arkansas won the team title with 46 points.
Caroline McCaslin placed 21st – the second Wildcat across the finish line – with a personal-best time 21:11.90. Amy Hansen was UK’s No. 3 finisher in 21:57.60, 45th overall.
Avery Bussjager placed 53rd in 22:07.60, and Whitney O’Bryan was 58th in 22:14.00.
Kunc earned First Team All-SEC honors for the first time in her career.
Watch the SEC Championships highlights next week
SEC Network will air a one-hour highlight show Sunday, Nov. 6, at 11 a.m. ET, with Tyler Denning & Larry Rawson on the call.
The course
Agri Park, which opened for the 1996 season, is carved out of a portion of the University of Arkansas’ on-campus agricultural area. The current course configuration has three distinct areas. The open area of the starting chute is separated from the pond and Razorback Meadow by a grove of trees. Razorback Meadow is open and relatively flat, and the pond section has more contour as the trail rises up along the rim of the course’s water feature.
The precedent
The Kentucky women’s team placed 12th, led by Kunc who finished 25th in 20:41.00, in 2015 at Texas A&M.
Kentucky’s men’s team was fourth at SECs in 2015.
The Kentucky women’s team won the SEC Championships in 1985, 1988 and 1989. The Kentucky men’s team was crowned SEC Champion in 1958, 1959, 1970 and 1988.
Women’s Team Results
Summary Team Scores
|
Pl
|
Team
|
Pts
|
|
#
|
|
1
|
Arkansas
|
46
|
|
7
|
|
2
|
Mississippi
|
76
|
|
7
|
|
3
|
Missouri
|
125
|
|
7
|
|
4
|
Miss State
|
138
|
|
7
|
|
5
|
Vanderbilt
|
170
|
|
7
|
|
6
|
Alabama
|
170
|
|
7
|
|
7
|
Kentucky
|
180
|
|
7
|
|
8
|
Florida
|
185
|
|
6
|
|
9
|
Auburn
|
207
|
|
7
|
|
10
|
Georgia
|
225
|
|
7
|
|
11
|
Texas A&M
|
263
|
|
7
|
|
12
|
LSU
|
366
|
|
7
|
|
13
|
South Carolina
|
385
|
|
7
|
|
14
|
Tennessee
|
393
|
|
5
|
Athlete
Count: 136
Kentucky Details
|
Pl
|
|
Team
|
Pts
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
[6]
|
[7]
|
Total
[Avg]
|
Spread
|
|
7
|
|
Kentucky
|
180
|
3
K Kunc
20:39.3
|
21
C McCaslin
21:11.9
|
45
A Hansen
21:57.5
|
53
A Bussjager
22:07.6
|
58
W O’Bryan
22:14.0
|
69
J Weston
22:27.6
|
71
A Busse
22:29.6
|
1:48:10
[21:38]
|
1:35
|
Men’s
Team Results
Summary Team Scores
|
Pl
|
Team
|
Pts
|
|
#
|
|
1
|
Arkansas
|
25
|
|
7
|
|
2
|
Mississippi
|
38
|
|
7
|
|
3
|
Kentucky
|
100
|
|
7
|
|
4
|
Georgia
|
149
|
|
7
|
|
5
|
Alabama
|
152
|
|
7
|
|
6
|
Missouri
|
156
|
|
7
|
|
7
|
Texas A&M
|
191
|
|
7
|
|
8
|
Florida
|
207
|
|
7
|
|
9
|
Tennessee
|
275
|
|
7
|
|
10
|
Auburn
|
278
|
|
7
|
|
11
|
LSU
|
296
|
|
7
|
|
12
|
Vanderbilt
|
319
|
|
7
|
athlete count: 107
Kentucky Details
|
Pl
|
|
Team
|
Pts
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
[6]
|
[7]
|
Total
[Avg]
|
Spread
|
|
3
|
|
Kentucky
|
100
|
7
J Thomson
24:03.6
|
17
M Iacofano
24:49.6
|
21
B Young
24:57.9
|
27
K Muhammad
25:10.5
|
28
D Southard
25:15.7
|
31
G Harm
25:22.0
|
41
M Thomas
25:36.6
|
2:04:18
[24:51]
|
1:12
|
—
For the most in-depth coverage of the UK cross country and track and field program follow the @KentuckyTrack social media channels on
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