OSU Cross Country Heads to Fayetteville for Chile Pepper Festival

Saturday, October 5

Fayetteville, AR

9 A.M. CT

Oklahoma State University

Chili Pepper Invitational

OSU Cross Country Heads to Fayetteville for Chile Pepper Festival

October 03, 2019 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

THE BASICS
The Oklahoma State men's and women's cross country teams kicked off the 2019 season at the Hurricane Preview, a tune-up meet in Tulsa on August 31 where the Cowboys were meet champions. Bryce Quigley was the individual champ in the men's race, followed by teammates Juan Diego Castro and Adam Dayani in second and third. The USTFCCCA National Cross Country Coaches Polls currently have the Cowboys ranked at No. 8 and the Cowgirls at No. 19 nationally. This season marks the 11th year under head coach Dave Smith, who has produced three NCAA cross country championships and is a nine-time Big 12 Coach of the Year.

Cowboys & Cowgirls Reloaded
The Oklahoma State cross country teams are coming off a pair of top-20 finishes at the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Led by All-Americans Isai Rodriguez (4th place) and Ashenafi Hatte (27th) the Cowboys earned a 13th place finish, while the Cowgirls finished 19th thanks to Sinclaire Johnson (48th), who turned pro following an outstanding junior season that included a national title in the outdoor 1,500. Rodriguez, who is currently entering his sophomore season, was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year after a second-place finish at the conference XC championship. Hatte also returns for his senior season.

Last Year At The Chile Pepper Festival
OSU did not run at the Chile Pepper Festival in 2018.

FOLLOW THE MEET
Fans can follow the action live on Twitter by following @run4okstate for updates. For in-meet results, visit www.flashresults.com/2019_Meets/xc/ChilePepper/. Final results will be published on www.okstate.com, along with a recap of OSU's day on the course.

MEET SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES CT)
The Chile Pepper Festival will take place at the University of Arkansas cross country course. There is no street address, but GPS and Google Map users: Use Washington County Fairgrounds, North McConnell Avenue, Fayetteville, AR. OR you may use AGRI Park on Garland Avenue.

• Men's (8K) 9:00 a.m.
• Men's (8K) Heat 2 9:50 a.m.
• Women's (5K) 10:40 a.m.
• Women's (5K) Heat 2 11:20 a.m.
• Awards – Men and Women 11:30 a.m.

FROM COACH SMITH

On this weekend's meet:
"This will be the first race for most of the athletes and that's always an adventure. What we're really hoping for is a good, solid effort and to see them go out and compete and run as hard as they can and let the chips fall where they may. It's a little bit of a rust-buster, a little bit of a progress check. In our program, we're often not as sharp this time of the year as we are four or five weeks or now, so like I said, it's a little bit of an adventure but I'm sure we'll do well."

On freshmen he expects to make an impact this season:
"Alex Maier has looked very good so far this year. There's still a long way to go and we're just getting started, but the early signs are that he looks pretty good. … I think Gabby Hentemann and Taylor Roe look like they could have an immediate impact. But, it's early and everybody feels good right now. Legs are fresh and you're not too exhausted yet and haven't had too many early mornings. But, at this point those three I think are the three freshman that look like they could have an impact on our cross country teams."