Razorback women have no equal

When last year’s SEC women’s cross country championship was run in muddy conditions at Baton Rogue, La., the other 11 teams hoped that maybe, just maybe, it would slow the University of Arkansas down.

Razorbacks in mud? Are you kidding?

Naturally, it didn’t. With freshman Brooke Upshaw finishing first and having four teammates place in the top six, Arkansas posted the second-best point score in conference history, two off a perfect 15, and 46 points ahead of runner-up Georgia, followed by three-time defending champion Tennessee.

That was bad enough for the competition, which had grown accustomed to seeing Arkansas out in front. In the Tuscaloosa News SEC Cup rankings, which measure athletic success over the past 15 years, since the conference expanded to 12 schools in 1992-93, the Razorbacks have clearly been the pacesetters with 10 SEC titles (they also won in 1991, for 11 total).

Worse for the opposition was the Arkansas roster, which had finished the regular season undefeated at 77-0-0, and already demonstrating the potential of keeping the program ahead of the pack for years to come.

“One of the weapons that we’ve had all year is that we've had interchangeable parts,” Coach Lance Harter said after the SEC Meet. “Somebody will say, ‘Who will be the front runner today?’ and I say, ‘I have no clue.’ It could be any one of five. Our ten just rotate amongst each other. The toughest part now is trying to figure out who’s going to be my seven to go to the regional meet and the national meet, because they run so close together. We’re all freshmen and sophomores. Our first junior was eighth for us.

“It’s a young crew, all freshmen and sophomores and they’re really excited about the future. So am I.”

Arkansas went on to place fifth at the national championships in Terre Haute, Ind., in its 20th appearance at the meet. Along the way, Harter was named the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association’s south central region coach of the year for the 11th time, and second year in a row.

Over his 17 years leading the team, Arkansas has won 13 of 17 NCAA regional/district titles and never finished worse than third.

About the only thing Harter and the Arkansas women haven’t done is win a national title, although this core group might have a shot. While the Razorbacks have placed at least one runner in ever NCAA meet since 1982, they’ve finished second four times, third once and had two other top 10 finishes.

The SEC’s lone national championship in women’s cross country was won by Kentucky in 1988. However, since 1992 the Wildcats have been closer to the bottom of the SEC standings than the top until five years ago. Kentucky was second in 2002 and had three other finishes in the top half of the conference meet.

Incidentally, Upshaw’s individual win at the SEC championship was the first by a freshman since Alabama’s Becki Wells in 1993 – when the Crimson Tide was considered the Razorbacks’ chief competition.

“She’s really special and we knew that when we recruited her,” Harter said about Upshaw. “What we saw today is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Reach Christopher Walsh at christopher.walsh@tusacloosanews.com or at 205-722-0196.