OU Men Second at 13th Annual Chile Pepper Festival

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- A pair of seniors, Joe McNair and Silverus Kimeli, teamed to finish seventh and eighth overall to lead the OU men's cross country team to a second place finish in today's 13th annual Arkansas Chile Pepper Festival. The Sooners took second behind host and eighth ranked Arkansas in the 10k race. The Razorbacks finished with 78 points and OU had 130.

The finish by the Sooner men's team was an all-time best for OU in the event.

The OU women finished ninth in the meet, paced by Jessica Eldridge, who finished 12th overall. Nevada won the women's event with 114 points and OU finished with 284.

McNair covered the 10k course in 30:04 and Kimeli was right behind him with a 30:05. Jimmy Buchanan was 24th with a 30:45 followed by Jason Coleman, who was 39th with a 31:02, and Darren Hutchins, who was 52nd with a 31:23. Andrew Call was 88th with a 32:12 and Salah Hussein was 117th with a 32:50.

For most of the Sooner women, today's race marked the first time for them to run a collegiate 6k. Eldridge's time of 21:34 marked a career best for her. The rest of the Sooner finishers included Nicola Maye, who finished 28th with a 21:56; Catherine Odell, who was 62nd with a 22:41; Andrea Bonner, who was 73rd with a 22:50; and Amanda Luksetich, who was 109th with a 23:30. Kristi Cook finished with a 23:50 and Jackie Dubois finished the 6k course in 24:09.

The time by McNair was the third best ever posted by a Sooner man in the Chile Pepper meet while Kimeli's time was the fourth best for a Sooner. McNair's time beat his previous career best mark in the 10k, a 31:02 which he ran last year at the Chile Pepper. Other Sooner men who posted career best marks today included Buchanan, who cut nearly a minute off his previous best; Hutchins, who cut 15 seconds off his previous 10k best; and Call, who cut two minutes off his previous 10k best. The marks by Coleman and Hussein also were career bests as this was their first collegiate 10k race. Eldridge's time of 21:34 was the best time ever recorded by a Sooner runner in the 6k race at Fayetteville. The previous 6k best for a Sooner woman was 23:10. OU's top four times today rank as the four best all-time performances for the Sooners in the Chile Pepper.

The times by Maye, Odell, Bonner and Cook also were career bests as this was their first collegiate 6k. Lukesetich, a senior, lowered her 6k career best by five seconds today and Dubois, a junior, lowered her career best in the 6k by 32 seconds.

The Sooners will return to competition on Oct. 31 when they compete in the Big 12 Championships in Austin, Texas.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Men Second at 13th Annual Chile Pepper Festival

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors