(October 17, 2025) Clinton, Mississippi - The Bucks competed this morning in their last regular season race of the year at Mississippi College. Coach Samantha Shores has made this their annual stop before the Region 2 Championship next week in Bentonville. 

As a team, the Bucks finished 18th overall out of 22 teams. The colleges & universities represented included NCAA DI, DII, DIII, & NAIA institutions along with NJCAA competition.

Individually, there were 471 entries in the 8K race that takes place at Choctaw Trails. Aiden Kimp (Mena, AR) led the way for the men with a 28:17.9 that way good enough for 105th. It was a personal record for the freshmen.

Julio Alfonso Grano (Waldron, AR) finished 117th with a time of 28:46.02 for a personal best. Following him was another Waldron, AR native, Landon Defoor. Defoor set a personal record with a 29:31.34 to break the 30 minute 8K mark that was good enough for 142nd overall. Another Buck broke the 30 minute mark with a time of 29:56.63 that was good enough for 151st overall. It was Ethan Mazzola's (Benton, AR) best collegiate race so far.

The rest of the Bucks finished as follows:

156th - Camren Lynn-Edward Smith (Bella Vista, AR) - 30:04.82 - personal best

163rd - Alfred Rodriguez (Dalhart, TX) - 30:30.6

168th - Noah Burns (Weatherford, TX) - 30:46.8

182nd - Hunter Solomon (Nederland, TX) - 32:23.98 - personal best

The men compete again next Saturday, October 25th, at the Region 2 Championships hosted at Northwest Arkansas Community College. 

#DefendTheMountain