Mines Men at Chile Pepper Festival – Saturday, 9 a.m. (CT)
Fayetteville, Ark. – Agri Park
[Meet Information] [Live Results-Men's Collegiate 8K]
 

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WEEKEND RUNDOWN
For the first time in nearly a month, the #1-ranked Colorado School of Mines Men's Cross Country will appear in competition at the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark. The Orediggers will compete in the first race of the day – the Men's Collegiate 8K – at 9 a.m. (CT). That field features NCAA Division I programs such as the University of Arkansas, Oklahoma State, the University of Texas and more. Needless to say, Mines' work is cut out for the eight Orediggers flying down to Arkansas. The Oredigger women are taking the weekend to rest and recover after taking first at the Capital Cross Challenge in Sacramento last Saturday.
 
WEATHER REPORT
It appears that Saturday should be a gorgeous fall day. Temperatures at the first gun are projected between 60 and 70 degrees with clear skies and under a five-percent chance of rain. The kicker would be a humidity level of 64 percent which is well over Mines' usual training conditions. That being said, a light breeze up to seven miles per hour should keep it comfortable and may even require fans to prepare with a light jacket.
 
RACECOURSE SNAPSHOT (MAP)
The 2019 Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival will be run at Agri Park which is the home cross country course for the University of Arkansas. It is described as a combination of grass, cinder and uneven terrain. Depending on which race teams compete in, the path runs through fields and slightly wooded sections of Agri Park. The starting line is a wide-open field in the northeast corner of the park with a narrowing route just a quarter-mile into the race. According to the website, runners will face a pretty good incline half a mile into the race, but we'll see what the Orediggers think of that incline. At the finish, runners make a 180-degree turn around a cluster of trees before making their kicks down the home stretch.
 
LOADED FIELD
With team registrations up over 50%, the powers that be have broken both collegiate races into two heats. As previously stated, Mines will compete in the first race of the day and arguably amongst the most competitive field it will see all year. That could be due to all the NCAA Division I programs in attendance looking to preview the course where the 2019 NCAA DI South Central Regional Championships will be won. Either way, Mines will be going up against 30 other teams including #8-ranked Oklahoma State, #25-ranked Arkansas, the University of Texas, the University of Oklahoma and 12 other DI programs. In the NCAA Division II ranks, the Orediggers will be facing off against the likes of #3-ranked Western Colorado and #15-ranked Northwest Missouri State. So when we say loaded field, we mean loaded field.
 
CATCHING UP
The last time Mines raced in competition it was at the 2019 season opener at the Rust Buster Invite hosted by UCCS. The Orediggers posted a perfect team score of 15 on their way to winning the title. Individually, Mines took places 1-6 and seven of the top 10. Chris Cathcart was the individual champion, finishing the 8,000-meter course in a record time of 24:46.3. Cathcart went on to win RMAC Runner of the Week honors for his efforts. Dylan Ko, Kyle Moran, Ben Schneiderman, Luc Hagen and Luke Julian were all right behind their teammate, finishing within 10 seconds of each other.
 
WHAT IS THE CHILE PEPPER FESTIVAL?
The Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival officially began in 1992. However, its roots began growing in 1988 with the formation of the Chile Pepper Running Club and the Chile Pepper run by Joe Fennel, Randy Rhine and Kelly O'Meara to help Fayetteville High School raise money for its cross country team and develop talent. Four years later, the festival as we know it now was formed, bringing together three northwest Arkansas races under a single event. Considered one of the premier running events in America, the weekend festivities include the Chile Pepper Run, the Arkansas Invitational and the Fayetteville High School's Purple Dig Invitational. An estimated 6,500 runners compete each year in front of 6,000 fans. It has also generated more than $700,000 for northwest Arkansas cross country programs.
 
SPICY SUCCESS
Mines last raced at the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival in 2017. Both the men and women took second place in impressive fashion as the Oredigger men finished just 10 points back of host and NCAA Division I Arkansas while the women were less than 100 points behind the hosts in their race. That was not newfound success seeing as Mines' men won the race in 2016 with the women coming in at #3. The 2015 edition saw the Oredigger men take silver and the women #4. For those keeping score at home, that's a three-year run with neither team finishing lower than fourth place.
 
HEAVY ON THE HARDWARE
As Mines enters the heart of its season, it may be good to remember just how loaded the Orediggers are. Luc Hagen returns following an All-American performance in 2018 at the NCAA Cross Country National Championships. Teammate Luke Julian was also just seconds away from earning All-America status. That being said, Julian is a four-time All-American in track & field while Miller Kettle boasts three track & field All-America honors in his career. Additionally, Vincent Workman, Kyle Moran, Jake Mitchem, Ben Schneiderman and Dylan Ko have garnered track & field All-America distinction as well. That makes a total of seven Orediggers touting 13 All-America awards on the 2019 cross country roster. That's not too shabby.
 
EPPERSON EYEING WORLD TITLE
Earlier this summer it was announced that Mines Cross Country and Track & Field alum Andrew Epperson (2010-14) was selected as one of three men to race the marathon for Team USA Track & Field at the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha, the capital of Qatar. Well, Epperson's time to shine has arrived as the marathon will be raced on Saturday (Oct. 5) starting at 11:59 p.m. local time and 2:59 p.m. here in Colorado. His selection to Team USATF came as a result of his 18th-place finish at the Beppu-Oita Marathon in Japan on Feb. 3 of this year, crossing the finish line in a personal record of 2:13.11. He is the youngest of the three runners by more than four years. All three male athletes were chosen from the three highest-placing performances during the qualifying window, based on marks set on an IAAF approved course from March 7, 2018 to May 5, 2019.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Both the Oredigger men and women remain nationally ranked in the USTFCCCA NCAA Division II National Coaches' Poll. Mines' men are still the unanimous #1 for a third consecutive week. Most recently, the Oredigger women rose to #3 in the nation which is the highest ranking in program history. Other familiar faces include Western Colorado (#3), Adams State (#5) and UCCS (#12) on the men's side. Adams State (#1), Western Colorado (#6) and UCCS (#15) also appear on the women's side. Across the South Central Region, West Texas A&M's men weigh in at #13 and Colorado Christian's men continue receiving votes.
 
CALIFORNIA LOVE
The 2019 NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships will be held in Sacramento, Calif., at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex on Nov. 23. Mines' women dominated their national's course last weekend at the Capital Cross Challenge, beating out 39 other teams including multiple DI programs to stand atop the podum. The RMAC Championships mark the start of the postseason on Oct. 26 and the South Central Regional Championships on Nov. 9 mark the final test. The RMAC races will be hosted by Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction, Colo. with the regional competition hosted by West Texas A&M at The Range in Canyon, Texas.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Mines' men and women will both have contingencies in action next weekend with the Fort Hays State Tiger Open and UCCS Open both on the slate. Additional coverage information will be available next week at www.minesathletics.com.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines XC on Twitter and Instagram at @csmtrack. They can also keep up with all of Colorado School of Mines Athletics all season long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.