The Texas Longhorns have attended their first-ever SEC Championship as the men's and women's cross country teams traveled to College Station for the conference finals.
First up, the women. Texas has been led by senior Eva Jess for a majority of the season, alongside fellow senior Olivia Howell and junior Elizabeth Pickett. As the Horns shot over the starting line, Texas looked strong but as the 6-kilometer race progressed, the team's top runners started to fall behind.
At the end of the race, which is just over 3.5 miles long, Jess was the fastest Longhorn and earned a 12th-place finish. Pickett and Howell finished at No. 16 and No. 17, respectively.
Freshman Sydni Wilkins finished in 46th place, senior Kyra Petra crossed the finish line 63rd overall, junior Brighton Mooney earned a 72nd-place finish, and the rest of the team fell between 84th and 121st place. Overall, the Texas women finished fifth in the conference with 150 points.
The Alabama Crimson Tide finished first in the women's division. Between Alabama and Texas were Tennessee, Florida, and Arkansas, in that order.
No. 28 Texas women finish 5th overall at the SEC Championships with 150 points 🤘
— Texas T&F/XC (@TexasTFXC) November 1, 2024
The men were one place closer to the podium, finishing 4th overall as a team. The Arkansas Razorbacks walked away with the conference title, followed by the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Ole Miss Rebels.
Longhorn Isaac Alonzo earned a top-10 finish, crossing the finish line in 22:38.5 after the 8-kilometer race and 22 places ahead of his next-fastest teammate.
Isaac Alonzo posts a top-10 finish in 7th with a 40-second PB 🤘‼️ pic.twitter.com/zZMXUkfSSm
— Texas T&F/XC (@TexasTFXC) November 1, 2024
Alonzo was followed by Nathanael Berhane who crossed the line in 29th place and Logan Patete who crossed in 33rd. Emmanuel Sgouros was close on Patete's tail and finished 37th overall. Nigusom Knight, the "slowest" Longhorn on the team finished at 24:51.5 and in 96th place.