The NCAA Cross Country Conference Championships were held on Nov. 1 in College Station for the first time since Texas and Oklahoma joined the Southeastern Conference. Texas women’s cross country placed fifth overall.
Coming off an 18th place finish at Wisconsin Pre Nationals on Oct. 19, Texas rounded out the top five as first-time competitors, which is an outcome the No. 28 ranked team worked for all season. The Longhorns scored 150 total points and seven individuals helped contribute to the team total.
In front of Texas on the leaderboard was Alabama in first place with 72 points. Tennessee placed second with 103, Florida in third with 122 and Arkansas finished fourth with 132.
With Arkansas placing just ahead of Texas, they moved to No. 1 in the South Central Region ahead of the Longhorns in the week five U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association rankings. This is the first time the Razorbacks have been ranked top of the region since week one.
For the second time this season, senior Eva Jess was Texas’ top finisher coming in 12th place overall. Throughout the season she has been an impactful leader on the team in setting huge personal bests. Her time of 19:38.1 was a 22-second personal best from her previous 6k time.
This was Jess’ fourth personal best this season and she continues to make impactful strides, finishing off her final year running with the Longhorns. She earned second-team All-SEC honors from her performance in College Station.
Coming in second place for Texas was junior Elizabeth Pickett placing 16th with a time of 19:46.8. Just behind her in 17th place was graduate student Olivia Howell running a 19:47.0 time. Both Pickett and Howell earned third-team All-SEC for their finishes.
Freshman Sydni Wilkins came in fourth for the Longhorns and 46th overall with a 36-second personal best time of 20:14.9. In fifth for Texas and 63rd overall was graduate student Kyra Pretre finishing with a time of 20:32.6.
To round out the Longhorn score contributors, in sixth place was junior Brighton Mooney placing 72nd with her time of 20:39.7, and graduate student Elizabeth Stockman in seventh for Texas, 84th overall with a 20:45.7 recorded time.
The team will travel back to College Station to compete in NCAA South Regionals on Nov. 15. The Longhorns look to reestablish themselves as No. 1 in the region heading into the NCAA Cross Country Championships later in the month.
