Arkansas Lands One Of Nation's Best Distance Runners In 2021


* Rawlins (WY) senior Sydney Thorvaldson committed to Arkansas on Tuesday

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Another domino fell for Arkansas late Tuesday. 

Sydney Thorvaldson, MileSplit's current No. 1 ranked athlete across cross country and the No. 5 ranked recruit in the Class of 2021, announced her commitment to the defending NCAA triple crown champion Razborbacks. 

Thorvaldson, a senior at Rawlins High School, chose Arkansas over NAU, Stanford and Oregon

And her decision proved another massive haul for Arkansas, which landed the likes of Taylor Ewert, Corie Smith and London Culbreath in the Class of 2020, as well as Katy Cinco Ranch's (TX) Heidi Nielson in this current class. 


Regardless of how this recruiting period shakes out, Thorvaldson will be the jewel of the Razorbacks' class. 

The Wyoming native is without a doubt the state's all-time top runner, having scored all its available distance records and a total of 15 state championships across cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field. 

And that's even without her junior outdoor season, which was canceled due to concerns over COVID-19. 

Thorvaldson also qualified for Team XC Nationals over her first three seasons, finishing last year as a third-place finisher. She's a three-time All-American at nationals.

She also finished fourth in the Brooks PR 2-mile in 2019. 

Thorvaldson holds outdoor PRs of 2:17.03 in the 800m, 10:12.18 in the 3,200m, 10:20.75 in the 2-mile and 17:11.97 in the 5K. This past indoor season, Thorvaldson threw down a 1,600m PR of 4:52.53, a 3,200m best of 10:06.58 and a 2-mile PR of 10:01.52.

In cross country, Thorvaldson currently owns a US No. 1 5K time of 16:19.00. She has broken 17 minutes on four ocassions and 17:30 a total of 11 times overall. 


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