Arkansas Men, Villanova Women Win Titles

Arkansas won its fourth men’s NCAA cross-country championship in seven years Monday, and Villanova’s women won their second in a row in a meet at Knoxville, Tenn.

Arkansas placed two runners in the top 10 and finished with 68 points, beating defending champion Iowa State by 28 points. Iowa State’s Jonah Koech was the men’s champion, covering the 10,000-meter course in 29 minutes 5 seconds.

Shannon Butler of Montana State was second, followed by Bob Kennedy of Indiana, Johnathan Brown of Iowa State and Eric Henry of Arkansas.

Villanova’s Sonia O’Sullivan won the women’s title in 16:06 over the 5,000-meter course on Pine Lakes golf course near Knoxville.

Providence finished second, followed by Clemson, UC Irvine and Oregon. The Ducks had defeated Irvine by one point in an NCAA regional championship.

Wisconsin’s Suzy Favor was second, 12 seconds behind O’Sullivan, and Missouri’s Susan Bliss was third, a tenth of a second ahead of UC Irvine’s Buffy Rabbitt. Darcy Arreola of Cal State Northridge was 12th and Maria Akraka, a Swedish half-miler running for Irvine, was 18th.