Rebel Men Pull Off Thrilling 1-2-3 Sweep at SEC Championships

BATON ROUGE, La. – Ole Miss men's cross country did something that has only been done a handful of times in the recorded history of the Southeastern Conference, with three Rebels crossing the finish line first at the 2020 SEC Championships at LSU on Friday morning.
 
Junior Mario Garcia Romo (first, 23:32.9), sophomore Cole Bullock (second, 23:34.3) and senior Waleed Suliman (third, 23:34.3) strung together a splendid final 3K to take the lead as a pack, crossing the line within two seconds of each other and three seconds ahead of fourth-place finisher Kieran Wood from Missouri. Garcia Romo, a native of Salamanca, Spain, collapsed and broke down in tears after crossing the finish line, as Bullock and Suliman excitedly brought him to his feet to celebrate together.
 
"It feels incredible. I've been dreaming about this for 11 months now," Garcia Romo said. "I knew this was a goal I've had since I came (to Ole Miss). This is one of the biggest races of my life. This win means a lot to me. I couldn't be more proud of this team, we did a really good job this year."

 

ONE...TWO...THREE!#HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/IlgwPsfiPP

— Ole Miss Track&Field (@OleMissTrack) October 30, 2020

 

No. 19 Ole Miss was dethroned by a potent No. 3 Arkansas squad that that placed all five scorers in a row from fifth to ninth, but the Rebels were in the hunt until the very end, hanging in second place throughout. Ole Miss was able to clip 11 points off that final 3K split thanks to the front-end surge that was sparked by two-time All-American, Waleed Suliman.
 
"We were pretty fast at the end, we tried to just save energy during the race," Garcia Romo told SEC Network postrace. "When we started to go, I just followed Waleed. I didn't know Cole was behind us. I think we closed pretty well and everything went like we planned it."
 
"Waleed is the leader of the team, there is no doubt there," Garcia Romo continued. "He's been an example of how to be a good teammate, how to be a good person. He's been the guy I've been looking up to all three years I've been at Ole Miss."
 
For Garcia Romo, he becomes the third Rebel to ever win an SEC cross country title, joining the likes of Rebel greats Pablo Sierra (1992) and Barnabas Kirui, who won three conference crowns in 2006, 2009 and 2010. Additionally, Ole Miss becomes the 10th men's team to ever sweep the podium at the SEC Championships and the first since Alabama did so in 2017.
 
Today caps a strong season for this trio of Rebels, who consistently ran at the top of the pack all year long. This is the second win for Garcia Romo on this very course this season, the first of which earned him USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week honors. All three earned First-Team All-SEC honors today, the second-such honor for Garcia Romo, the third for Suliman and the first for Cole Bullock, who was the SEC's Freshman of the Year in 2019.
 
"Thanks to Ole Miss and the SEC," Garcia Romo said. "It's been really hard to stay focused and keep training because we didn't know if we were going to race, and the SEC made it possible. I'm glad I'm in this conference and got to compete today."
 
The Rebel women put together another solid conference meet of their own, finishing third overall in the team standings and holding off a late charge from Kentucky for Ole Miss' fifth consecutive top-three finish. Prior to 2016, the Rebel women had never finished in the top-three of an SEC meet.
 
Senior Anna Elkin led the way again, earning her first career All-SEC honors on the Second-Team with an eighth-place finish at a 16-second 6K PR of 20:15.9. Fellow senior Victoria Simmons earned her second straight Second-Team honor with a 14th-place showing at 20:37.8. Senior Emma McClellan also had a career day, notching a 26-second PR in 27th place at 20:55.2. Other Rebel scorers included Clio Ozanne-Jaques in 28th (20:58.7) and Ryann Helmers in 29th (21:02.4).
 
Ole Miss and the rest of the country now waits for spring, with the anticipated beginning of the indoor track season in January, as well as the rescheduled NCAA Cross Country Championships in March.
 
Men's 8K Team Scores
1. #3 Arkansas – 35
2. #19 Ole Miss – 59
3. Georgia – 121
4. Tennessee – 123
5. Kentucky – 133
6. Missouri – 151
7. Florida – 200
8. LSU – 208
9. Texas A&M – 228
10. Alabama – 244
11. Vanderbilt – 248
12. Auburn - 282
 
Men's Individual Results
1. Mario Garcia Romo – 23:32.9
2. Cole Bullock – 23:34.3
3. Waleed Suliman – 23:34.3
24. Ben Savino – 24:43.2
33. Robinson Snider – 24:58.5
54. Dalton Hengst – 25:22.5
57. Tyler Moore – 25:25.4
61. Jack Filan – 25:29.7
70. Cade Bethmann – 25:41.9
71. Michael Coccia – 25:42.1
 
Women's 6K Team Scores
1. #1 Arkansas – 41
2. Alabama – 57
3. Ole Miss – 97
4. Kentucky – 98
5. LSU – 173
6. Vanderbilt – 198
7. Missouri – 230
8. Georgia – 249
9. Florida – 257
10. Mississippi State – 258
11. South Carolina – 277
12. Auburn – 288
13. Texas A&M – 294
 
Women's Individual Results
8. Anna Elkin – 20:15.9 – PR
14. Victoria Simmons – 20:37.8
27. Emma McClellan – 20:55.2 – PR
28. Clio Ozanne-Jaques – 20:58.7
29. Ryann Helmers – 21:02.4
32. Loral Winn – 21:07.7 – PR
33. Skylar Boogerd – 21:09.8
50. Nicole Rice – 21:30.5
86. Ylvi Traxler – 22:10.9
90. Cate Tracht – 22:15.4
95. Morgan Claire Rose – 22:20.7
98. Brooke Gilmore – 22:24.7
 
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.