Stephen F. Austin
Chile Pepper Festival
SFA Runners Compete at Chile Pepper Festival
10/4/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Men's Results | Women's Results
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Stephen F. Austin men’s and women’s cross country teams each competed in the Chile Pepper Festival at the University of Arkansas on Saturday morning. The men grabbed a sixth place finish in the 8K run while the women finished seventh in the 5K.
“I was pretty pleased with both teams today,” said head coach Cody Clark. “The women ran a good race led by Shelby [Pesek] again. She moved up in the race a lot better and has a ton of confidence right now. Our girls had a lot of PRs which was huge.
“Overall, there were a lot of good teams at the meet and it was really congested. We went out well and moved through the race pretty good. We’ll get more fit as we get into different workouts next month in preparation for the big meets at the end of the season.”
In his first race of the season, sophomore Charles Mathenge paced the SFA men with a 16th place showing out of 429 runners. Mathenge, who has missed action this year due to injury, finished the 8,000 meter race in 24:32 – 39 seconds off the first-place pace set by Arkansas’ Stanley Kebenei.
The remainder of the Lumberjacks’ point-earners crossed within 17 seconds of each other. Sophomores Colby Mehmen (25:11) and Anthony Gallardo (25:13) placed 46th and 48th, respectively, to follow Mathenge. Junior Cody Brown and redshirt freshman Jeffrey Weisheit came down the homestretch neck and neck, with Brown just edging Weisheit by two tenths of a second. The duo took 63rd and 64th after their 25:28 showing.
The men’s sixth place result came out of 20 universities competing. The Lumberjacks earned 151 points while host Arkansas put up 51 points to take first place. Lamar (96 points) went second to lead the Southland Conference programs but SFA beat Abilene Christian, McNeese State and Central Arkansas by a large margin on the day.
The SFA women took seventh place as a team out of 18 universities in the 5,000 meter run, claiming 172 total points. Junior Shelby Pesek led the way with a 25th place finish, recording a time of 17:13. The women’s squad set a solid 2-5 split at just 25 seconds. Redshirt freshman Courtney High (17:31) and true freshman Brittany Innis (17:39) grabbed the Ladyjacks next two spots, finishing 38th and 47th respectively.
Rounding out the SFA top five were sophomores Samantha Ottman with a time of 17:48 and Bridgette Kozar who posted a mark of 17:56. The runners took 50th and 59th place out of the 375 women competing.
Host Arkansas won the event on the women’s side, taking 17 points, with Southland Conference foe Lamar coming in second with 78 team points. Kansas State (116 pts.), Wichita State (128 pts.) and Texas Tech (153 pts.) rounded out the top five. The Ladyjacks beat three conference opponents in the meet (Abilene Christian, McNeese State and Central Arkansas).
The SFA cross country teams will return to action on Friday, Oct. 17 at the Alabama Crimson Classic in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
2014 Chile Pepper Festival Final Results
Men – 6th place overall (151 pts.)
16. Charles Mathenge – 24:32
46. Colby Mehmen – 25:11
48. Anthony Gallardo – 25:13
63. Cody Brown – 25:28
64. Jeffrey Weisheit – 25:28
136. Josh Torres – 26:14
219. Connor McLain – 27:02
270. Edwin Munoz – 27:36
Women – 7th place overall (172 pts.)
25. Shelby Pesek – 17:13
38. Courtney High – 17:31
47. Brittany Innis – 17:39
50. Samantha Ottman – 17:48
59. Bridgette Kozar – 17:56
79. Katrina Fite – 18:14
93. Taylor Bohr – 18:23
138. Macy Davis – 18:44
-SFA-
