On Oct. 5 the ACU cross country team traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas to attend the Annual Chile Pepper Festival hosted by the University of Arkansas.

Five players ranked in the top half of the races including sophomore Kevin Kipkosgei leading the men’s and junior Briahna Gerlach leading the women’s. This was the third straight race that Kipkosgei has led the men in this fall. He places 47th in the 8k for men’s while Gerlach placed 31st in the 5k.

The teams competed against nearly 60 different schools. The men finished the meet placing 22nd out of 32 beating two Southland Conference rivals. The two rivals were Incarnate Word and Central Arkansas. The women placed 14th beating many notable teams inside and outside of the Southland Conference such as Texas State, Incarnate Word and Lamar to name a few.

“I was happy with the results knowing that we still have time to improve and that we off to a good start,” Assistant Coach Jarvis Jalen said.

The teams have had a strong start with many players like Kipkosgei and Gerlach taking charge leading the pack. This meet allowed the teams to see how they would compete against other teams in the Southland Conference. It also allowed them to get tougher competition against teams they normally compete against inside of the conference.

“Going forward if we want to improve we need to be more intentional about our training and how we prepare for future meets,” Jalen said.

The cross country team will be in College Station Oct. 19 at the Arturo Barrios Invitational hosted by Texas A&M. Another meet will also be held Oct. 19 in Abilene at the Bill Lobby Invitational hosted by McMurry.