Huskers Travel South to Chile Pepper Festival

The Husker men’s and women’s cross country teams will attend the highly competitive Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark., for the second time in school history this Saturday, Oct. 15.

Action will take place at the University of Arkansas Cross Country Course (Agri- Park) with the men’s 10K beginning at 9:30 a.m., followed by the women’s 6K at 10:30 a.m.

Nebraska will face possibly its toughest competition of the season against the 47-team field, as three women’s teams and two men’s teams, including No. 1 Arkansas (host), highlight the meet.

"This is a very good meet and the competition will be extremely competitive at the top end," said Head Coach Jay Dirksen. "We are expecting both teams to make a better showing than in any previous meet this year."

The Huskers used an off-weekend last week to recover from injuries resulting from the first half of the season. The entire women’s team will be competing for the first time this season, while Dirksen also expects the men to run in full force.

"Several of our runners have made major strides in the past two weeks," said Dirksen. "I expect that we will see a more true reflection of the strength of the women after this meet. The men have had a series of minor setbacks (blisters, flu, aches, etc.) the past two meets, but I expect to see us at full strength again for the first time in a month. Practices have been markedly better the past two weeks."

The men’s 10K will be farthest distance the Husker men have seen this season. All previous meets have been an 8K; the same distance that is run at the Big 12 Championships. The only other two meets on the schedule with 10K races are the NCAA Midwest Region Championships and the NCAA Championships.

Huskers face tough competition this week

In addition to facing seven ranked teams on both the men’s and women’s side this weekend, the Huskers will also be running against six Big 12 teams, the most they have seen this season.

Among the ranked conference schools at the Chile Pepper Festival is Baylor (No. 14 Women), Kansas (No. 28 Men) and Oklahoma State (No. 16 Women).

Kansas State, Texas Tech and Oklahoma will also be competiting.

Complete List: Alberta, Abilene Christian, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Arkansas-Little Rock, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Arkansas Tech, Baker University, Baylor, Birmingham-Southern College, Boise State, California, Cameron University, Delta State, East Central University, Eastern New Mexico, Evangel University, Georgia Tech, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Mephis, Miami (Fla.), Missouri-Kansas City, Nebraska, New Mexico State, North Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oral Roberts, Richmond, South Alabama, South Dakota State, Southeastern Louisiana, Southeastern Oklahoma State, Stephen F. Austin, Texas-Arlington, Texas-El Paso, Texas Tech, Tulsa, Utah, Wichita State and Wyoming.

Up Next:

Following this weekend, the Huskers will take another week off while preparing for the most important meet so far this season, the Big 12 Championships.

The meet is hosted by Baylor University on Oct. 28 in Waco, Texas at the Bear Run Cross Country Course. The Men’s 8K is at 10 a.m., followed by the women’s 6K at 11 a.m.

Review: Husker Women Place Second at South Dakota State

Brookings, S.D. - The Nebraska women placed three runners in the top 10 for the third time this season as they took home a runner-up finish, while sophomore Peter van der Westhuizen registered the top individual finish for the Huskers with a third-place showing in the men’s 8K at the South Dakota State Invitational on Oct. 1.

The South Africa native ran a career-best 8K time of 25:19, and was followed by junior co-captain Bryce Dickmeyer in 31st (26:59).

The women’s trio of senior captain Kayte Tranel (fourth, 17:42), junior captain Kim Pancoast (ninth, 18:03) and freshman Ari Goldstein (10th, 18:06) also ran career-best times as the NU women were defeated only by 11th-ranked Minnesota in the team standings.