NEW ORLEANS – After a dominating display at 26th Annual Chile Pepper Festival where they logged two of the three fastest 5K times in NCAA Division I this season, the Arkansas women’s cross country team cracked the top five in the United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association for the first time this season, as they moved up two spots to No. 5.
The Razorbacks collected a season-high 304 points to earn the poll’s fifth slot in week four of the USTFCCCA Top 30 poll. It is the highest ranking Arkansas in the poll since last year’s week seven poll, when they came in at No. 3.
The top three of the USTFCCCA poll remained intact, as Michigan claimed the top spot for the fifth straight poll. Fellow Big Ten member Michigan State came in at No. 2 for the second straight poll, while Oregon remained at No. 3 and Georgetown moved up one spot to No. 4.
Arkansas jumped two spots thanks to a dominating display at the 26th Annual Chile Pepper Festival from its top five runners, as they posted a score of 17 to win the team’s third event title of the year. All five times posted by the Razorback scoring rotation from Saturday ranks inside the Top 25 individual performances in the 5K in NCAA Division I this season.
Redshirt junior Dominique Scott set a meet record for the third time this year, capturing her third individual title along the way. Scott completed the course in 16:01.00 to shatter the previous Chile Pepper Festival 5K record of 16:39.42 set by former Indiana All-American, and now professional runner, Sarah Pease.
The 16:01.00 finish is the fastest recorded 5K time by any colligate runner this season, and helped the South African native earn a No. 3 individual ranking on this week’s FloTrack.com NCAA Division I Individual Rankings.
Redshirt senior Grace Heysmfield also turned in a record-setting performance at the Chile Pepper, as she crossed the finish line in a personal-best time of 16:12.00 to finish second. The time is the third-fastest 5K time in NCAA Division I and helped her jump up four spots to No. 16 in this week’s FloTrack.com Individual Rankings.
The Razorbacks return to the course on Oct. 17, as they travel to Madison, Wis., to participate in the Wisconsin adidas Invitational. It will be Arkansas’ final test before the SEC Championships on Oct. 31, as some of the nation’s top cross country teams will meet in Madison to face-off. Race time is slated for 11 a.m.
For more information on the Arkansas women’s cross country team, follow @RazorbackTF on twitter.