The ACU cross country team traveled to Fayetteville, Ark, to compete in one of the top collegiate meets in the southwestern U.S – the Chile Pepper Festival -- on Saturday with the Cats performing well, particularly in the men's race.
The men finished 6
th in a race with 31 teams that was dominated by a duel between Arkansas and Texas. The Razorbacks pulled off the win against the Longhorns. Finishing ahead of ACU was Division II powerhouse Northwest Missouri in 3
rd and former conference foes Stephen F. Austin and Oral Roberts in 4
th and 5
th, with ORU just points ahead of ACU. In a large field of 305 runners, ACU was led by
Andruw Villa in 15
th place with a time of 24:20 over the 8k distance – Villa has now led the Wildcats in every XC race since he arrived on campus last over a year ago. Following Villa was
Kevin Castruita (41
st, with a time of 24:55);
Carlos Cortez (45
th, with a time of 24:57);
Vincent Luffey (81
st, with a time of 25:27); and
Matthew Engle (84
th with a time of 25:30) rounding out the top 5 runners who scored in the meet.
The men also got solid performances from the remaining 4 ACU runners in the race –
Benjamin Castro (107
th, with a time of 25:48);
Mark Barajas (134
th, with a time of 26:08);
Austin Roberts (135
th, with a time of 26:08) and
Mikhail Fortner (147
th, with a time of 26:22). The top 5 finishers for the Wildcats finished in the top 1/3 of the field and all 9 runners were in the top half of the finishers. In their first 8k race of the year, the team also ran in a tight bunch, with 1:09 separated the 1
st and 5
th finishers and 2:02 separated all 9 ACU runners.
On the women's side, the Wildcats finished in 18
th place in a field of 31 teams, with a highlight coming with the top 4 ACU finishers all running personal bests (PB).
Chloe McLellan led the way, finishing in 55
th with a PB time of 17:49 over the 5k course; freshman
Saylor Stevenson finishing in 107th, with a time of 18:35, besting her all-time best from high school;
Hadley Phillips finishing in 120
th, with a PB time of 18:45; and
Madison Anderson in 160
th place with a PB time of 19:14. Finishing out the top 7 for the Wildcats were
Kate Williams in 171
st place,
Kyla Fuller in 189
th place, and
Alyssa Quinones in 198
th place.
In the women's team race, just like the men, the race was a duel between Arkansas and Texas, with the order flipping as the Longhorns bested the Razorbacks. Finishing in the 18
th place in the 31 team field, ACU beat 7 Division I teams.
The ACU XC team returns to action in 2 weeks as they travel to College Station for the Arturo Barrios Invitational hosted by Texas A&M. This meet will be the first time the women run the 6k distance this season, the same distance as the conference meet. The Arturo Barrios will also be ACU's first chance this season to run on the Dale Watts XC course in College Station, the same course which hosts the South Central Region meet in November.
Coach Nathan Meeuwenberg on the men's team:
"I was very happy with the overall Men's team performance. Two years ago, we were 25th at Chile Pepper, so to see the growth of the program from then until now is fun to see. One thing I love about this group - even after a performance where we can be happy about their performance, they are immediately asking themselves how to get better. It's exciting to think that we still have our best racing ahead of us and we still have yet to put a complete race together."
Coach Nathan Meeuwenberg on the women's team:
"As a team we took a needed step from one month ago. The women raced with more of an edge than they have had earlier in the year. Chloe (McLellan) has come in and elevated herself and this team with her attitude and performance. Like the men, we still have yet to put a complete race together. We'll clean some things up and this team will be racing it's best when it matters most!"
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