ABILENE – Abilene Christian cross country Saturday will make its first appearance at the Arkansas-hosted
Chile Pepper Festival since 2015, the year its women's team won its first of two Southland Conference Championships.
Senior
Carnley Graham was a true freshman that fall, and is the only Wildcat on this year's roster who's experienced this challenging and crowded course. Her 5K time at the 2015 Chile Pepper was clocked at 17:52.57, placing her 58th out of 436 (!) competitors as the Wildcats finished second to Arkansas in the team standings with 99 points.
This year's field will be a little different as the men's 8K and women's 5K will be split into two heats, leading head distance coach
Jarvis Jelen to estimate fields in the 300 range. ACU will be competing against 31 other teams in the 8K, while the women's first heat is composed of 28 schools plus unattached individuals.
The Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival is held on the University of Arkansas cross country course in Fayetteville. The course is a combination of grass, cinder and uneven terrain, making it the fastest course the Wildcats have set foot on this fall.
"It's very fast, flat and grassy," said Jelen. "There's also some wooded areas with some sharp turns. We should see some big drops in times because we've run on our course, which is deceptively slow, and then at Texas Tech, where it had rained. Arkansas has had no rain recently, so it will be fast and dry."
The men's first heat will begin at 9 a.m. with the ACU roster composed of
Kevin Kipkosgei,
Denis Lagat,
Conner Miller,
Levi Chambers,
Colton Gates,
Seth Crockett and the freshman trio of
Lane Jackson, Gabriel Trevino and
Trevon Hardy.
The women's 5K will commence at 10:40 a.m. and feature Wildcats
Irene Rono,
Briahna Gerlach,
Grace White,
Carnley Graham,
Sarah Wagler,
Hannah Marut and
Avery Silliman.
Saturday's races mark the debuts for freshman Rono, who trained in Kenya prior to her arrival in Abilene, and Gates, who as a freshman in 2018-19 competed at two XC events and five outdoor meets in the 5K and steeplechase.
"Irene came in really fit, but for her and Colton I want to take a more conservative approach," said Jelen. "We're going to test the waters with them and see where they are, but for the rest of the team this is our first real race. This is the start of our month-long championship season so we're going to be aggressive and go after it.
"At our first two races we were either pack running or not running all out. Now we'll be able to see where we're at as a team and individually."
Saturday marks the Wildcats' first event since the Sept. 21 Texas Tech Open. Sophomore Kipkosgei and junior Gerlach were the Wildcats' men's and women's teams top finishers for the second straight meet as each led their respective squad to the finish line at the Lubbock Christian University Golf Course.
Kipkosgei completed his first 8K of the season with a ninth-place time of 26:51.80, tying him with Tarleton State's Michael Simcho, while Gerlach finished seventh in her 5K at 18:49.10.
Last year's Chile Pepper Festival featured 865 runners who completed their respective races. The top men's 8K time was a 24:05.4, while the best women's 5K mark was a 16:15.3.
The men's and women's team championships were both awarded to the Razorbacks, as their men totaled 38 points and the women, 34.
About the Chile Pepper Festival
The Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival was created to bring together three Northwest Arkansas cross-country races under a single event. The Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival is now one of the premier running events in America.
Each year over 80 college teams and 120 high school teams battle for prestige and unique Chile Pepper themed awards. Additionally, 750 individuals participate in the Open Events including the Tom Lewis 1 Mile Pepper Dash on Friday Night. The event is held at University of Arkansas' incredible off-road course and all runners are invited to enjoy a Hot Mexican food feast following the race.
