FAYETTEVILLE -- The cross country season has already started, but the launch for the Arkansas men's and women's teams begins with a home meet at Agri Park.
That'll happen Saturday with the 30th annual Chile Pepper Festival, which draws top cross country runners from several states. The Arkansas men and women both won Chile Pepper championships last year by wide margins.
AT A GLANCE
30th annual Chile Pepper Festival
Agri Park course, Fayetteville
Saturday’s races
Chile Pepper 10K Open 7:15 a.m.
Chile Pepper 5K Open 8:45 a.m.
Men’s Collegiate 8K 9:30 a.m.
Women’s Collegiate 5K 10:20 a.m.
High school boys 5K 11 a.m.
High school girls 5K 11:30 a.m.
Boys Open 5K 12:15 p.m.
Girls Open 5K 1 p.m.
Junior boys 5K 1:45 p.m.
Junior girls 5K 2:30 p.m.
"We're out to try and win our ninth straight SEC championship and we've had two straight top 5 finishes in the NCAA championships" Arkansas men's coach Chris Bucknam said. "So, this meet is an important stepping stone for us. It's no different than football and basketball, where you have a preseason and you don't have everybody out there yet. It's always our goal to jell as a team in October and the Chile Pepper is a good benchmark for us to see where we're at."
The Razorbacks are eager to compete Saturday after placing second with a partial team at the Badger Invitational in Wisconsin last week. The Arkansas women will also bring its 'A' team Saturday, minus Devin Clark and Lauren Gregory, who are both nursing injuries.
"We have a lot of depth, so I think we'll be able to overcome despite not being at 100 percent," Arkansas women's coach Lance Harter said. "We'll definitely run with a lot of pride because, any time we're at home, we want to make sure we take care of our backyard."
The Chile Pepper Festival also includes boys and girls divisions for high school and junior high teams from across the region. Over 6,500 runners and 5,000 spectators and race volunteers are expected Saturday for the daylong event at Agri Park.
"We're just a small fraction of this gigantic event," Harter said. "We're just kind of the warmup act because the highlight is the high school races and that'll always be the emphasis."
The Bentonville Tigers enter Saturday's meet with some momentum after winning team championships the previous weeks at Memphis and Joplin, Mo. Lucas Pabst and Coleman Wilson are the top runners for the Tigers, who expect to be challenged locally by Fayetteville and Springdale Har-Ber.
"The good thing about the Chile Pepper is they bring in strong teams from Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri, so it's become a real regional meet," Bentonville coach Michael Power said. "That's why we like to compete here and challenge ourselves against really strong teams."
A majority of the Chile Pepper appeal is its community involvement and relationship with high school cross country programs throughout Northwest Arkansas. In 29 years, the Chile Pepper Festival has given over $575,000 to those programs, including $75,000 that was distributed last year. This year, the Chile Pepper and its sponsors have made another commitment to distribute up to $20,000 to local junior high programs.
"It's amazing with what these guys do for cross country," Power said. "We have a large number of athletes in our program, starting with seventh grade up through 12th grade. Their support allows us to travel to some really great meets and it helps to grow the sport."
Sports on 09/21/2018