After a second-place finish at the SEC Championships in Columbia, S.C., the Alabama men’s cross country team has a new challenge ahead.

The Crimson Tide need to finish either first or second at the NCAA South Regional at Sanford University on Saturday to gain an automatic bid to the national tournament in Terre Haute, Ind.

The Tide’s quest for a three-peat as conference champions came to a screeching halt as Alabama ran into the buzz saw that is the Arkansas Razorbacks, who captured their 18th SEC title.

Even though the results aren’t what head coach Joe Walker or the squad were expecting, he gave credit where credit was due.

“I thought we ran well as a group, and I was pleased with the effort and mindset going into meet,” he said. “Arkansas had an amazing race and proved they’re one of the best teams in the nation.”

Throughout the 2010 season, the Tide has battled numerous injuries and inconsistent play, which has ultimately led to troubles on the track.

Walker said, this season hasn’t progressed the way he or the team had hoped coming off two consecutive SEC titles due to lack of depth.

As Alabama heads into regionals, the areas in which it can improve can be achieved with relative ease. Two times they can improve on, according to Walker, are running with more awareness and paying attention to position.

Outside of Arkansas, Walker said Florida State is fielding its best team in years, and the Florida Gators are biting on the back of the Tide’s heels trying to get into those top-two spots.

In order to gain automatic entrance to nationals, Walker knows what it will take.

“We need a complete team effort,” he said. “We need five guys to show up and be at their best on that day. We’re not in the position to take time off, and they know they need to perform.”

As cautious as Walker sounds, the team sounds as confident as ever.

Junior Moses Kiptoo said if you take into account the injuries the team dealt with, the results weren’t that bad. He also said, “If we were all fit, we would have won the SEC title.”

He added the second-place finish has given the team a little extra motivation going into regionals to improve upon things to ensure a good performance.

Fellow junior Carison Kemei was more out front with his predictions for regionals and the results of the SEC tournament.

“We did our best,” he said. “Our aim was to win the SEC Championship, but it was bad luck and we lost to the other guys… It’s not going to happen again.”

Even though Alabama may have lost the SEC tournament, the Tide may have retained an important element to help it capture the Regional title.

“Our aim at regionals is to do as much as we can to achieve better,” Kemei said. “We may have lost the SEC, but we didn’t lose our confidence.”