Hogs looking to defend home course advantage
FAYETTEVILLE — Three-time All-American Dominique Scott will lead a strong Arkansas women’s cross country team today at the 27th annual Chile Pepper Festival at Agri Park.
Scott finished first last season when Arkansas won by 61 points over runner-up Lamar. The Arkansas men also are back after outpacing Lamar by 45 points last fall.
Scott, who won the 2015 NCAA Indoor 3,000-meter championship in the spring, will make her first cross country appearance this season on her home course.
“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,’” Arkansas Coach Lance Harter said. “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 as Arkansas won its third consecutive team championship at the Chile Pepper. She held off teammates Grace Heymsfield (second place, 16:06), Shannon
Klenke (fourth place, 16:25), and Diane Robinson (fifth place, 16:27).
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 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 individual title today.
“We feel like we’ve got a pretty good team, but who knows until we get out there?” said Chris Bucknam, Arkansas’ men’s coach. “You don’t always throw your ace pitcher, but we picked this meet to open up our runners.”
In the high school division, area teams hope for a better showing after teams from Missouri dominated the competition last fall.
Blue Springs, Mo., won the Chile Pepper girls championship last year and was 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.
Springdale Har-Ber senior T.J. Sugg finished 12th overall last year and could be in the title mix today after winning the Class 7A cross country state championship last season.
“It’s hard to win this meet, but T.J. will be in the hunt,” Har-Ber Coach Joe Crommett said. “He’s feeling comfortable with himself right now, and I think he’s going to have a great day.”