FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced its fifth NCAA Division I Regional Ranking of the season and the Arkansas women’s cross country team remained the No. 1 team in the South Central Region.
The Razorbacks maintained their No. 1 ranking in the NCAA Division I South Central Region after claiming the team title at the 2014 Chile Pepper Invite (Agri Park) in Fayettevile last Saturday. This week’s top spot in the South Central Region marks the 19th consecutive USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Regional Rankings Poll that Arkansas has claimed the top spot.
Baylor, Rice and SMU locked down the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 spots, respectively, for the second straight week, while Southland Conference team Lamar jumped from No. 6 to No. 5.
Last weekend, the Razorbacks had several runners set new personal-best in the 5K at the Chile Pepper Invite. 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.
For the third straight meet redshirt junior Dominique Scott set a meet record time, en route to her third individual title of the year. 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 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 Arkansas women’s cross country, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.