FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - In front of an enthusiastic home crowd, the Arkansas
Razorback women's cross country team earned a runner-up finish at the 20th
annual Chile Pepper Festival on Saturday morning.
For the second year in a row, Texas Tech's powerful punch,
including two-time NCAA Cross Country Champion Sally Kipyego, was too much
for the Razorbacks. In the 39-team field, Texas Tech won the team race with
72 points. Arkansas was second with 101 points and SMU rounded out the top
three with 139 points.
"We had a great race planning going into the meet," head coach
Lance Harter said. "Unfortunately, Jillian Rosen had kind of an off day so
it didn't work out like we planned. Catherine (White) looked really strong
today and led our team through this race. Jillian is a strong runner and
she'll bounce back. Megan Jackson was really a shining moment for us today.
Coming back from being sick, she raced really well and looked strong."
"This was a good, solid meet for us," Harter said. "Denise
Bargiachi really picked it up at the end and had a strong finish after
starting out really slow. We add Dacia Perkins into the mix at SEC
Championships and that will be a huge boost for us, mentally and
physically."
For the third race this season, sophomore Catherine White was the
top finisher for the Razorbacks. She finished seventh overall in the field
of 306 harriers. She was the top Southeastern Conference runner to cross the
finish line and the second South Central Region runner to finish. She
clocked a 6,000-meter time of 20:32.84, just shy of her personal best
(20:30.55).
"I think this race went really well," White said. "It gives me a
lot of confidence going into SECs. For the first two-thirds of the race I
felt strong and confident. I tried to finish as strong as I could. The home
crowd made it a great atmosphere today. It was a fun environment to race in.
I think this was another good stepping stone for the team as a whole.
Everyone is looking strong and fit and getting ready to race at SECs."
Making a strong push at the finish, Denise Bargiachi was the
second Razorback to cross the line. She placed 16th overall with a 6K time
of 21:02.11. She was the second SEC runner to finish and was fifth among
South Central Region competitors.
Right behind Bargiachi was Christine Kalmer in 17th place. She
clocked a time of 21:03.31 as Arkansas' third runner. Arkansas' fourth
runner, Jillian Rosen, earned a 25th-place finish overall with her 6K time
of 21:29.89.
Megan Jackson rounded out Arkansas' scoring five with a 36th-place
finish. In her first race since being sidelined with a severe illness, she
clocked a 6K time of 21:47.28.
Also competing for Arkansas were Ashley Williams (101st;
22:47.99), Samantha Learch (111th; 22:53.44) and Ashley Mason (114th;
22:55.63).
Next up for Arkansas women's cross country will be the SEC
Championships, Mon., Nov. 3 at Mississippi State. For more information about
Arkansas cross country, visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.
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