Wildcats set to run at Arkansas

Chile Pepper is final tuneup before LSC meet for both ACU teams

 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The ACU men's and women's cross country teams will be back in action Saturday as they compete some of the best competition in the nation at the 17th annual Chile Pepper Festival cross country meet, hosted by the University of Arkansas.

The men's field, which includes No. 1 Arkansas, No. 6 Arizona, No. 11 Texas-El Paso and No. 31 Alabama, will run the 8000-meter Agri Park Cross Country Course at 9:30 a.m.  The women's field, which includes No. 12 Arkansas, No. 14 Baylor, No. 16 Oklahoma State, LSU, Miami, Houston, Kansas and Texas Tech, will run a 6000-meter course at 10:30 a.m.  Tech is coached by former ACU head coach Jon Murray, and this week marks the first time the Wildcats will compete against a team coached by Murray.

The ACU men -- ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division II South Central Region and No. 2 in the nation -- are coming off a second-place finish to Arkansas two weeks ago at the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree.  The Razorbacks will feature their team at full strength for the first time this season on Saturday, meaning that in all likelihood, every other team in the field is running for second place.

Arkansas has not scored more than 41 points in any meet this season, and beat ACU by 65 points at the OSU Cowboy Jamboree.

The Wildcats, though, will be led by the trio of Nicodemus Naimadu, Philip Birgen and Serge Gasore.  Naimadu, one of the top distance runners in the nation regardless of level, was fifth at the OSU meet, while Birgen was 13th and Gasore 16th.

On the women's side, ACU will be led by the trio of Olha Kryv'yak, Trina Cox and Adeh Mwamba.  ACU finished fifth in the overall team standings two weeks at Oklahoma State.

Kryv'yak finished ninth in the individual standings, followed by Mwamba in 12th and Cox in 14th.

For complete results of the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival, visit http://www.chilepepperfestival.org/index.htm.

Saturday's meet is the final tune-up for both ACU teams before they compete next Saturday in the Lone Star Conference championship meet in Weatherford, Okla.  Two weeks later (Saturday, Nov. 5), ACU will host the NCAA Division II South Central Region meet at Sherrod Park.