University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooner Men Finish 12th at Chile Pepper Festival :: Kissack finishes 37th to lead strong OU effort.

Sooner Men Finish 12th at Chile Pepper Festival :: Kissack finishes 37th to lead strong OU effort. Sooner Men Finish 12th at Chile Pepper Festival

Kissack finishes 37th to lead strong OU effort.




Senior Brandon Kissack ran a career-best time to lead the Sooner men to a 12th-place finish at the Chile Pepper Festival Saturday.

Oct. 13, 2001

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The improvement of the Sooner men's cross country program was evident Saturday at the 10th annual Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival as OU finished 12th and was third among the five Big XII teams participating in the meet. The youth and inexperience of the Sooner women showed in the nationally ranked field as OU finished 26th in the 27-team field. Third-ranked Arkansas, winner of the last four NCAA men's cross country titles, won the men's 10k race while the 10th-ranked Lady Razorbacks won the women's 6k.

It marked the first time this season for the Sooners to run those distances. It also marked the final competition before OU hosts the Big XII Championship in two weeks.

The Sooner men were led by senior Brandon Kissack who finished 37th with a time of 31:33. Jimmy Buchanan was 54th with a 31:57 and Joey McNair was 64th with a 32:10. Rounding our OU's top five finishers were Cecil Rose, who was 88th, and Kevin Howarth, who finshed 114th. Times posted today were career bests for six returning runners, including Kissack, as well as three newcomers.

Joni Alexander was the best finisher for the Sooner women followed by Amanda Luksetich and Jackie Dubois. OU was without senior Jenny Ledford, who was held out because of a stress fracture, and three other more experienced Sooners, Alaina Dearman, Aisha Stringer and Kelli O'Rourke, didn't compete. Today's women's times were career bests for one OU returnee, Kim Thomas, and five newcomers.

OU will host the Big XII Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Oct. 27, at the Jimmie Austin/OU Golf Course. The men will run an 8k at 10 a.m. followed by a 6k race for the women at 11 a.m.

RESULTS OF THE CHILE PEPPER CROSS COUNTRY FESTIVAL

Men -- 1. Arkansas 45; 2. Portland 97; 3. Abilene Christian 101; 4. Oklahoma State 112; 5. Kansas 209; 6. California-Davis 216; 7. Illinois 251; 8. Texas-El Paso 256; 9. Harding 263; 10. Tulsa 335; 11. Louisiana State 349; 12. OKLAHOMA 357; 13. Southwest Missouri State 375; 14. Iowa State 380; 15. Missouri-Kansas City 387; 16. Wichita State 389; 17. Kansas State 466; 18. Memphis 486; 19. Oral Roberts 547; 20. Louisiana Tech 601; 21. Alabama-Huntsville 606; 22. Colorado Christian 612; 23. Texas Christian 615; 24. New Mexico State 656; 25. Central Florida 660; 26. Louisana-Monroe and Hastings, 718; 28. Baker 804

Individual Winner -- Daniel Lincoln, Arkansas, 29:52

OU Results -- 37. Brandon Kissack, 31:33; 54. Jimmy Buchanan, 31:57; 64. Joey McNair, 32:10; 88. Cecil Rose, 32:50; 114. Kevin Howarth, 33:38; 115. Freddie Stephens, 33:34; 117. Trevor Gillum, 33:51; 158. Darren Hutchins, 34:12; 169. Sean Culp 34:34; 178. Andrew Call 34:55; 200. Forest Walker 35:40

Women -- 1. Arkansas 44; 2. Oklahoma State 94; 3. California-Davis 157; 4. California-Irvine 165; 5. Kansas State 183; 6. Illinois 195; 7. Wichita State 233; 8. Belmont 241; 9. Texas Christian and Tulsa 249; 11. Kansas 261; 12. Southwest Missouri State 293; 13. Vanderbilt 342; 14. Hastings 407; 15. New Mexico State 409; 16. Oral Roberts 416; 17. Texas-El Paso 447; 18. Iowa State 457; 19. Harding 542; 20. Louisiana State 548; 21. Alabama-Huntsville 570; 22. Louisana-Monroe 605; 23. Arkansas Tech 644; 24. Missouri-Kansas City 652; 25. Baker 656; 26. OKLAHOMA 677; 27. Centenary 846

Individual Winner -- May Mortimer, Kansas State, 20:56

OU Results -- 111. Joni Alexander, 24:03; 118. Amanda Luksetich, 24:14; 139. Jackie Dubois, 24:58; 149. Kim Thomas, 25:36; 160. Sally Meeks, 26;28; 173. Krista Rowe, 27:41; 174. Emily Leonard, 27:43