MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Oct. 4, 2019) – For the first time in program history, the West Virginia University cross country team is set to compete at the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival, hosted by the University of Arkansas, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Saturday, Oct. 5.
 
The women's 5k race is scheduled to begin at 11:40 a.m. ET, at Arkansas' Agri Park. Live results are available at FlashResults.com.
 
"This meet is a new experience for the team," WVU coach Sean Cleary said. "This will be the first time in the program's history that we have ever competed at this festival. Racing in Arkansas will allow us to see teams that we have never raced against or will not race until the Big 12 Championship. With five Big 12 teams here, it will have a familiar feel.
 
"We have a few new additions to the roster this weekend, so we should have a very clear picture of where exactly we stand with four weeks until the Big 12 Championship and six weeks until the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships."
 
Arkansas welcomes 80 teams to its home course this weekend for the 31st running of the annual event. Nearly 30 schools are scheduled to race with WVU in the first of two heats of the women's 5k, including four other Big 12 schools – Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas.
 
WVU returns to competition this weekend after capturing its first victory of the season at the Lock Haven Invitational in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 21. Junior Hayley Jackson paced the Mountaineers with a second-place finish in a 6k time of 20:42. Jackson collected Big 12 Women's Runner of the Week accolades for her performance at the meet.
 
Redshirt seniors Candace Archer and Olivia Hill followed Jackson in third (21:06.6) and fourth (21:06.7) place, respectively. Freshman Ceili McCabe made her collegiate debut at Lock Haven, notching a fifth-place finish in 21:16.8, while redshirt junior Antigone Archer rounded out WVU's team scoring in sixth place, with a time of 21:19.9.
 
As a team, the Mountaineers collected the victory a Lock Haven with a perfect, 15-point score in a field of 37 schools and 403 runners.
 
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