Arkansas Back at Agri Park for Chile Pepper Festival
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas men’s and women’s cross country teams will be racing on their home course this weekend competing against 31 and 27 other colleges respectively at the 27th annual Chile Pepper Festival.
Started in 1988 as the Chile Pepper Run by avid runners Joe Fennel and Randy Rhine, Fennel took the race to the next level in 1992 uniting the race with cross country meets hosted individually by the university and Fayetteville high school. The combination produced what is now one of the premier running festivals in America.
Since its humble origins the Chile Pepper Festival has raised and donated $450,000 to cross country programs in the northwest Arkansas area. As of Wednesday a record 6,000 entries comprised of amateur runners, colleges and high schools had been received for the 2015 event.
The Razorbacks head into the weekend as the only SEC program with two nationally ranked teams as the men check in at No. 15 and the women currently at No. 10.
2014 Chile Pepper Festival champions, Arkansas men, return four top 20 finishers in Gabe Gonzalez (5), Alex George (11), Cale Wallace (14) and Austen Dalquist (20). Additionally, former Iowa Central CC runner Frankline Tonui whose time of 24:16.20 in last year’s race would have placed him seventh overall, will be representing the Razorbacks on Saturday.
The Arkansas women also return to the festival as the defending champions following a performance that saw their program finish just two points shy of a perfect score. Two-time All-American Dominique Scott will open up her senior season on the Agri Park course. Scott was the individual champion in 2014 breaking both the program and meet record with her time of 16:01.00 over the 5K distance.
Regan Ward (7), Kelsey Schrader (15) and Samantha Mohler (16) all finished in the top 20 last year for the Razorbacks with Ward coming through in a personal best 16:39.60 to help clinch the Razorback team title.
The race will feature an abundance of talented newcomers from both programs all of whom have the potential to play a role in the Razorbacks’ success.
2015 Arkansas Men’s Cross Country Schedule
Tuesday, Sept. 1, Cowboy Preview | Stillwater, Okla. 4th of 4
Saturday, Sept. 19, Iona Meet of Champions | New York, N.Y. 2nd of 10
Saturday, Oct. 3, Chile Pepper Festival | Fayetteville, Ark.
Friday, Oct. 16, Pre-Nationals | Louisville Ky.
Friday, Oct. 30, SEC Championships | College Station, Texas
Friday, Nov. 13, NCAA South Central Regional | College Station, Texas
Saturday, Nov. 21, NCAA Championships | Louisville, Ky.
2015 Arkansas Women’s Cross Country Schedule
Tuesday, Sept. 1, Oklahoma State Duals | Stillwater, Okla. | 2nd of 4
Saturday, Sept. 12, UC Riverside Invitational | Riverside, Calif. | 1st of 15 – 6K, 1st of 17 – 5K
Saturday, Sept. 19, Missouri Southern Stampede | Joplin, Mo. | 1st of 25
Saturday, Oct. 3, Chile Pepper Festival | Fayetteville, Ark.
Friday, Oct. 16, Wisconsin adidas Invitational | Madison, Wis.
Friday, Oct. 30, SEC Championships | College Station, Texas
Friday, Nov. 13, NCAA South Central Regional | College Station, Texas
Saturday, Nov. 21, NCAA Championships | Louisville, Ky.
For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.
