The men’s cross country team finds itself in a situation unfamiliar to them.
They are viewed as the underdog.
The pre-national meet held on Oct. 16 in Terre Haute, Ind., was a preview of next month’s NCAA Championships, which is being held on the same course. The 36-team field showcased 10 ranked opponents.
The No. 24 Tide finished in eighth place with 314 team points, which was a disappointing finish for the two-time defending SEC Champions.
“It was an average run for us.” head coach Joe Walker said. “We needed to compete at a high level as a group. We attacked early but didn’t finish, and we didn’t have a good 3 [kilometer].”
No. 16 Oklahoma won the team scoring by collecting 106 points, with all five scorers in the tops 30.
During Walker’s 10 years at Alabama, the program has reached national prominence by winning consistently during his tenure. Since 2000, the Tide has won six NCAA South Region Championships, three consecutive top-10 finishes in the NCAA Cross Country Championships, including a program-best third-place finish in 2009. In 2008, he helped deliver the program’s first SEC Title since 1973 and its second conference championship ever.
However, with recent stumbles, which saw the Tide fall from No. 5 to No. 24 in the rankings, the team is no longer looked at as the favorite in the competitive SEC.
“It’s a tough league,” Walker said. “Last year we came in as a heavy favorite. This year Arkansas comes in as the favorite.
“It’s going to be a fight on that day, and we have to be ready.”
He added that they have to move on and improve little issues, which plagued them in the pre-nationals if they want to reach their potential.
Despite a disappointing finish, the Tide had 4 of its 5 runners finish in the top 100 overall.
Senior Julius Bor was the Tide’s top performer finishing in 12th place with a time of 23:57.60. He was among the top three runners in the field until he fell behind in the 8 kilometer race.
Junior Carison Kemei, despite being stepped on and losing a shoe at the beginning of the race, adds to his impressive season with a 23rd place finish clocking in at 24:13.40.
Fellow juniors Moses Kiptoo and Joel Rop placed in the top 100 as well. Kiptoo finished 67th with a time of 24:44.90 and was followed shortly by Rop at 24:52.80 placing him at 84th.
Defending NCAA Champion Sam Chelanga of Liberty University was the top ranked individual performer with a time of 23:19.90.
Even though Walker looks at this run as “average,” he is aware of the challenge that awaits his team and what they need to do to achieve their goals of an SEC and NCAA title.
“The last few years we’ve gone in competing for the title.” he said. “We’ve had a couple of meets in October, and we haven’t met expectations, but we have to come ready to perform.”
The championship portion of their schedule begins Nov. 1 as they travel to Columbia, S.C., to compete in the SEC Championships.
