FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 14 Arkansas men’s cross country team will welcome 52 teams to Agri Park Saturday, Sept. 22, as it hosts the 30th Annual Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville.
“We're looking forward to opening our team up, barring any illness between now and Saturday,” head coach Chris Bucknam said. “Hopefully everybody will be ready to go, we're going to put our team out there and run them through an 8K test and see where we're at.”
The Razorbacks continue to hold on to their position at No. 14 in the latest USTFCCCA National Coaches’ Poll, announced Tuesday. Arkansas also remains the top-ranked team in the South Central Region for the third-straight week.
The Chile Pepper Festival men's 8K race will begin at 9:30 a.m. CT Saturday morning.
Agri Park/Chile Pepper Festival Fast Facts
- Chile Pepper Festival established in 1988
- Agri Park became Arkansas cross country’s home course in 1996
- Chile Pepper Festival 8K course/meet record: 23:03.54 | Vincent Kiprop (Missouri Southern), 10/1/16
Each year over 80 college teams and 120 high school teams battle for prestige and unique Chile Pepper themed awards. Additionally, 750 individuals participate in the Open 10k and 5K Fun Run plus the Tom Lewis 1 Mile Pepper Dash on Friday Night.
2018 Cross Country Schedule