2008 Woodie Awards
Hogs can't hold on, finish third at Cowboy Jamboree
Matt Watson
Issue date: 10/3/07 Section: Sports
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Despite leading for most of the way, the No. 5 Arkansas cross country team lost a close race on Saturday and finished third behind the host Oklahoma State Cowboys and Division II juggernaut Abilene Christian.
Last year, the Hogs beat out Abilene Christian for first place and OSU was third.
Six seconds separated the Hogs in 2007 from the first place Cowboys on the 8,000-meter course in Stillwater, Okla. Scott MacPherson finished fifth overall and posted the team's best time for the second-straight meet.
"Getting beat at the end of the race is better than getting beat early at the race," MacPherson said. "We went out hard but couldn't hold on at the end. As we get better, we'll be stronger at the end of the race and be able to hold on at the end."
Arkansas head coach John McDonnell said he was impressed by the competition but thought his guys should have closed it out. The Hogs had won three straight races in Stillwater and five of the last six Jamborees, with a runner-up finish in 2003.
"It was a good field," McDonnell said. "Scott [MacPherson] was good but not great. He is better than he was today."
The Hogs were leading with a quarter of a mile left in the race but couldn't fend off the Cowboys at their home park.
"It was all right, not a great race for us," McDonnell said. "We usually hold on if we are winning that far into the race. We let a lot of guys pass us and that's inexcusable."
Junior Chris Barnicle finished 12th overall, and second for the Hogs, senior Matt Munoz was next in 15th place, senior Tyler Hill finished at 18th and senior Shawn Forrest rounded out the top five scoring runners in 23rd place.
"Our top five ran solid but nothing exceptional," McDonnell said. "Shawn [Forrest] was our fifth guy and he's better than that."
MacPherson bettered his seventh place finish from last season's event by 30 seconds, but still missed his SEC-leading 8K time of 23:46 by almost half a minute.
Last year, the Hogs beat out Abilene Christian for first place and OSU was third.
Six seconds separated the Hogs in 2007 from the first place Cowboys on the 8,000-meter course in Stillwater, Okla. Scott MacPherson finished fifth overall and posted the team's best time for the second-straight meet.
"Getting beat at the end of the race is better than getting beat early at the race," MacPherson said. "We went out hard but couldn't hold on at the end. As we get better, we'll be stronger at the end of the race and be able to hold on at the end."
Arkansas head coach John McDonnell said he was impressed by the competition but thought his guys should have closed it out. The Hogs had won three straight races in Stillwater and five of the last six Jamborees, with a runner-up finish in 2003.
"It was a good field," McDonnell said. "Scott [MacPherson] was good but not great. He is better than he was today."
The Hogs were leading with a quarter of a mile left in the race but couldn't fend off the Cowboys at their home park.
"It was all right, not a great race for us," McDonnell said. "We usually hold on if we are winning that far into the race. We let a lot of guys pass us and that's inexcusable."
Junior Chris Barnicle finished 12th overall, and second for the Hogs, senior Matt Munoz was next in 15th place, senior Tyler Hill finished at 18th and senior Shawn Forrest rounded out the top five scoring runners in 23rd place.
"Our top five ran solid but nothing exceptional," McDonnell said. "Shawn [Forrest] was our fifth guy and he's better than that."
MacPherson bettered his seventh place finish from last season's event by 30 seconds, but still missed his SEC-leading 8K time of 23:46 by almost half a minute.
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