FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – For the third straight meet redshirt junior Dominique Scott set a meet record time en route to her third individual title of the year, as she helped the No. 7-ranked Arkansas women’s cross country team win the 26th Annual Chile Pepper Festival on Saturday morning at Agri Park.
Scott, who was coming off back-to-back record-setting performances at the adidas/UCI Invtiational and the Missouri Southern Stampede, completed the 5K course at Agri Park in a remarkable 16:01.00 to shatter the previous meet-best time of 16:39.42 set by former Indiana All-American and now professional runner, Sarah Pease. The record-breaking time gives Scott her third individual title of the year, as she has yet to be beaten in any race she has participated in this season.
Last year’s Chile Pepper Festival Champion, Grace Heymsfield, finished 11 seconds behind her teammate to post a second-place finish. Heymsfield, who was competing in her 10th Chile Pepper Festival, finished her final Chile Pepper on a high note, as she posted a personal-best 5K time of 16:12.00.
The No. 7-ranked team in the nation's scoring rotation collected 17 points on the day, as they had runners place 1-2-3-4-7 to win the Chile Pepper Festival for the third straight year.
Senior Shannon Klenke collected a personal-best time of 16:25.70 to come in third, while redshirt junior Diane Robison posted a time of 16:27.70 to not only finish fourth, but also set a personal-best in the 5K. Sophomore Regan Ward rounded out the scoring rotation for Arkansas with a seventh-place finish and a new personal-record time of 16:39.60.
Lamar University finished second at the 26th Annual Chile Pepper Festival with a score of 78. Kansas State rolled in 116 points to finish third and fellow Jayhawk State school, Wichita State, finished fourth with 128 points. Texas Tech rounded up the top five with a score of 153 points.
For the second straight meet, the Razorbacks had several runners set new personal-best in the 5K, as racing conditions were near perfect at Agri Park on Saturday.
A pair of Arkansas runners posted an identical time of 16:55.90, as freshman Kelsey Schrader finished 15th and redshirt sophomore Samantha Mohler came in 16th. Redshirt sophomore Valerie Reina came in 37th with a 17:30.50 finish, and redshirt freshman Chandler Crumblish rounded out the group of Arkansas runners with a 49th-place finish and a time of 17:46.10.
The Razorbacks will be back in action on Oct. 17, as they travel north to Madison, Wis., to participate in the 2014 Wisconsin adidas Invitational. Race time is slated for an 11 a.m. start.
For more information on the Arkansas women's cross country team, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.
COACH HARTER POST RACE SOUND
On the Win: “The results of this race are just positive reinforcement that we’re on schedule for what we want to do in a couple weeks in Wisconsin, which is basically the NCAA preview meet. Then on to the SEC’s, where I think we’ll be pretty formidable to say the least.
On the Weather: “We paid our dues last year, running in those tough, rainy conditions. We were more than satisfied that we had dry conditions and sun. It was a little cool out today, but that actually benefits distance runners ideally.”
On Heymsfield running at the Chile Pepper for the 10th time: “It’s nice to know that on the 10th time, she ran faster than she ever did in the previous nine. Grace just continues to get better and better. I think she has some very deliberate goals, very high, lofty goals and today was some positive reinforcement that she’s right on schedule.”
Arkansas Results
| OVERALL FINISH | ATHLETE | SCORING | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Dominique Scott | 1 | 16:01.00 (Personal-Best) |
| 2nd | Grace Heymsfield | 2 | 16:12.00 (Personal-Best) |
| 3rd | Shannon Klenke | 3 | 16:25.70 (Personal-Best) |
| 4th | Diane Robison | 4 | 16:27.70 (Personal-Best) |
| 7th | Regan Ward | 7 | 16:39.60 (Personal-Best) |
| 15th | Kelsey Schrader | 15 | 16:55.90 (Personal-Best) |
| 16th | Samantha Mohler | 16 | 16:55.90 (Personal-Best) |
| 37th | Valeria Reina | N/A | 17:30.00 |
| 49th | Chandler Crumblish | N/A | 17:46.10 (Personal-Best) |