The men’s and women’s cross country teams set seven personal records Friday, Sept. 30, while in Fayetteville.
The teams participated in the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival where 356 men ran the 8k and 276 women for the 5k. It was the first 8k of the season for the men’s team.
“It was the first big meet we went to, so it felt very different racing with this many people around you, but I think we all handled it very well,” junior Anna Bommes said. Bommes set an 18:10.5, placing 81st.
Junior Sara Steimel placed the highest for the women’s team with a personal best of 17:35.3, placing 41st for the 5k.
Graduate student Julian Haessner led the men’s team with a personal best of 24:28, placing in 24th for the 8k.
“I am happy with my top 25 result. After the first mile, I was on the 12th position but I went out too hard … At the end, I paid for that,” Julian Haessner said. He said he would learn from the meet and added that the team had some good individual results. “I just have to remember to be patient and take it easy during the first two miles,” Julian Haessner said.
The other runners on the men’s team who set records in the 8k were: graduate student Philipp Haessner with a 24:39.4, senior Jared Touart with a 25:35.7, sophomore Bresner Austin with a 26:58.6, freshman Beau Mencon with a 27:05.6 and sophomore Johnny Cordero with a 27:05.7.
Philipp Haessner said, “It was a solid race but I am not completely satisfied with my result. The first mile went out really fast and I was in close to the front pack.” Philipp Heassner said he fell back during the second lap and that a hard start is typical for the Chile Pepper Festival.
The Chile Pepper Festival was created in 1992 “to bring together three northwest Arkansas cross country races under a single event … which is now one of the premier running events in America,” their website said.
Philipp Haessner said the team “will practice a quick start during our next workouts to be well prepared for the next race at Texas A&M.”
Sophomore Ali Nacthigal placed 125th for the women’s 5k with an 18:38.9. “It was a tough course with intense competition but I was really happy about my race. I was less than 15 seconds off my personal best time and third girl for UCA,” Nachtigal said. Nachtigal’s personal best in the 5k is an 18:31.1.
The women’s team landed in 17th with 482 points, the men’s team in 14th with 472 points.
“We got to compete against some great competition today. It was a challenging race that taught us some lessons,” Coach Josey Weaver said to UCA Sports. “We still have some work to do in order to get where we want to be. Our women raced in a very large field. This experience will carry us a long way when we race in big races down the road.”
The next race on the calendar for the cross country teams is set for Oct. 15 at Oklahoma State University. They will travel to College Station, Texas, for the NCAA South Central Region Championship at Texas A&M University Nov. 11.