FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Abilene Christian cross country is in Northwest Arkansas this Saturday to compete in one of the most prestigious meets in the southwestern United States, the Chile Pepper Festival, hosted by the University of Arkansas. The races will feature teams that are nationally ranked, as well as teams ranked in the South Central Region in which the Wildcats compete.
The ACU men have moved into the No. 14 spot in the South Central Region poll after starting the year outside the top 15. Competing in the men's race will be other South Central ranked teams in No. 2 Arkansas, also ranked No. 19 nationally, No. 5 Texas, No. 6 Stephen F. Austin and No. 12 UT Arlington.
The women's race will feature a showdown between the top-ranked teams in the South Central Region in No. 1 Tulane and No. 2 Arkansas, both in the top 30 nationally as well. Other regional ranked teams include No. 7 Rice, No. 10 Stephen F. Austin and No. 14 UT Arlington. The ACU women are currently unranked in the South Central poll, but a top-five finish at the Chile Pepper would make a case for the Wildcats to move into the top 15.
Competing for the Cats this weekend:
College Men's McDonnell Memorial 8K:
Kevin Castruita,
Andruw Villa,
Mikhail Fortner,
Mark Barajas,
Matthew Engle,
Vincent Luffey,
Carlos Cortez,
Austin Roberts and Benji Castro
College Women's Harter's Habanero 5K:
Hannah Kasper,
Chloe McLellan,
Kyla Fuller,
Alyssa Quinones,
Hadley Phillips,
Saylor Stevenson,
Kate Williams,
Audrey Chitwood and
Madison Anderson
The men's race will begin at 10:25 a.m., with the women getting started at 11 a.m. The races will be
streamed here with
live results here.
