October 11, 2007
Running in the 19th annual Chile Pepper Festival this Saturday, Oct. 13, will offer the Aggies another challenge prior to contesting the Big 12 conference meet later this month.
Texas A&M, ranked No. 3 in the men's South Central region poll and No. 5 in the women's region poll, will be among 36 men's teams and 43 women's teams entered in the Chile Pepper Festival. The event is run at Agri Park and hosted by the University of Arkansas, who will also play host to the South Central Regional in November.
The men will race over a 10,000-meter course, starting at 9:45 a.m., while the women cover a distance of 6,000 meters with a start time of 10:30 a.m.
Big 12 schools entered in the race include: Baylor, Nebraska, Oklahoma State (w), Texas (w), and Texas Tech. The SEC is represented by Alabama (w), Arkansas, Auburn, LSU and Vanderbilt.
Ranked squads in the men's national polls include No. 9 Arkansas and Abilene Christian, the No. 1 ranked Division II team. On the women's side the field has No. 5 Arkansas, No. 24 Texas Tech and Abilene Christian, No. 25 in the Division II poll.
This will be the first 10k race of the season for the Aggie men after they competed on a pair of 8k courses at home for the A&M Invitational and the Notre Dame Invitational.
David Hebert will seek to continue his run of top 10 finishes against a talented field. Hebert, who ran 31 minutes, 28 seconds over 10,000 meters at the 2006 South Central Region meet, has placed third twice this season and was recently seventh at the Notre Dame Invitational when he recorded a personal best time of 24:08 over 8,000 meters.
Also running for Texas A&M in the men's race are Dusty Langwelll, Brian Lind, Kevin McNab, Andrew Montes, Graham Northcutt, Kevin Ondrasek, Matt Ross and Joe Sauvageau.
Sarah Balfour will lead the Aggie women as they contend with eight teams ranked among the top 15 of the South Central Region. Balfour has been the top finisher among the A&M runners in all three meets this season.
After opening with a 4k race at Baylor, followed by a pair of 5,000-meter races at home and in Notre Dame, the Aggies will cover a 6,000-meter course for the first time this fall.
Competing on the women's side this weekend are Leigh Berger, Kirsten Brown, Alie Cornell, Kasey McNorton, Christina Munoz, Elizabeth Slaughter and Brenna Williamson.
Following the Chile Pepper Festival, Texas A&M will compete in Lubbock during the Big 12 Championships on Oct. 26 and then the South Central Region meet held in Fayetteville on November 10.