Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Arkansas hopes to continue dominance
FAYETTEVILLE — Three-time All-American Dominique Scott will lead a strong Arkansas women’s team today for the 27th annual Chile Pepper Festival at the Agri Park course.
Scott placed first last season when Arkansas won by 61 points over second-place Lamar. The Arkansas men are also back after outpacing second-place Lamar by 45 points last fall.
On the high school level, area teams hope for a better showing after teams from Missouri dominated the competition at the Chile Pepper last fall.
Scott, who won the 2015 Indoor 3,000-meter championship in the spring, will make her first cross country appearance this season on her home course.
“This will be her debut,” Arkansas coach Lance Harter said of Scott. “She originally thought about waiting two weeks later at the Wisconsin Invitational, but she said ‘No, I want to open up in front of the home crowd’. This will be her last hurrah in front of the home crowd and we look forward to it as a group.”
Scott finished the 5,000-meter course in 16:01 last season when Arkansas won its third consecutive team championship in the Chile Pepper. She held off teammates Grace Heymsfield (second place, 16:06), Shannon Klenke (fourth place, 16:25.7), and Diane Robinson (fifth place, 16:27.7).
Arkansas lost four seniors from last season, but the Razorbacks return talented runners like Regan Ward and Valerie Reina in addition to a crop of newcomers with potential.
“We’ve got a group of freshmen we’re really excited about,” Harter said. “Hopefully, they’ll be able to handle the competition that’s coming.”
Stanley Kebenei won the men’s 8,000-meter race in 23:53.5 last year when the Arkansas men also won a third consecutive team title at the Chile Pepper. Juniors Frankline Tonui and Christian Heymsfield should be top contenders for the indivdual title at today’s Chile Pepper.
“We feel like we’ve got a pretty good team, but who knows till we get out there?” Arkansas men’s coach Chris Bucknam said. “You don’t always throw your ace pitcher, but we picked this meet to open up our runners this weekend.”
Area high school runners will be looking for redemption after teams from Missouri dominated the competition at last season’s Chile Pepper. Blue Springs, Mo., won the girls’ championship followed by Jackson, Mo., Plano (Texas) West, Festus, Mo., and Kearney, Mo. On the boys side, Festus, Mo., finished first ahead of Rogers, West Plains, Mo., Bentonville, and Plano (Texas) West.
Senior T.J. Sugg of Springdale Har-Ber, who finished 12th last year at the Chile Pepper, could challenge the leaders after winning the Class 7A state cross country meet in Hot Springs.
“It’s hard to win this meet but T.J. will be in the hunt,” Har-Ber boys coach Joe Crommett said. “He’s feeling comfortable with himself right now and I think he’s going to have a great day.”