Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Arkansas sweeps at Chile Pepper
FAYETTEVILLE — One of the songs blaring over the loud speakers at Agri Park on Saturday contained the lyrics “The Hogs are on fire.”
The Razorbacks were on fire, especially Alex George.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville men’s cross country won the team standings and Alex George took the individual championship at the 29th annual Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival. Arkansas runners took three of the top four positions to outdistance second place Colorado School of the Mines, 37 to 47. Texas State finished well back in third place with 175 points.
George crossed the finish line ahead of the pack in the 10K race in a time of 29 minutes and 45.2 seconds. Teammates Jack Bruce (30.03.6) and Austin Dalquist (30:12.2) finished third and fourth, respectively.
“We’ve got a lot of improvement to make, but I was really pleased with how they handled the 10K distance,” Arkansas men’s coach Chris Bucknam said of the Razorbacks’ top finishers. “Alex ran a very controlled race. He was smooth and relaxed.”
George was pleased with his showing after he finished second overall and 30 seconds behind the winner in an 8K race at the Chile Pepper last year.
“I thought I executed our plan well and I felt really smooth doing it,” George said. “Probably with just past a mile to go, I ran really hard and kept accelerating. We ran as a team and it’s a really good confidence-booster to win here at the Chile Pepper.”
The Arkansas women also took first place despite splitting its team between the Chile Pepper and a meet at Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., on Friday. The Arkansas women totaled 33 points in Fayetteville Saturday after finishing 21st while using only five runners at Notre Dame on Friday.
Freshman Ashton Endsley (16:48) finished fourth and junior Sydney Brown (16:56.1) fifth for Arkansas at the Chile Pepper, where Aminat Olowara won the 5K overall title in a time of 16:23.1.
“Ashton is going to be a future star for us,” Arkansas women’s coach Lance Harter said. “Sydney has been with us two years and this was a breakthrough race for her. She did a fantastic job.”
Endsley and Brown said they mostly ran together and helped each other finish strong.
“It was amazing,” Endsely said about running in the Chile Pepper for the first time. “It’s exactly what I’ve dreamed about.”
Bucknam said before Saturday Arkansas traditionally uses the Chile Pepper Festival as a “launching pad” for its competitive season. He was pleased with the overall performance and said the Hogs are now better prepared for the Pre-National meet in Louisville, Ky., in a couple of weeks.
“We’ve got a solid group of guys and it was a good effort today,” Bucknam said. “I feel good about the Pre-Nationals and some other meets we have coming up in the next four weeks.”