Oct. 13, 2007
Fayetteville, Ark. - The Auburn men's and women's cross country teams finished seventh and eleventh, respectively, at the Chile Pepper Festival Oct. 23, hosted by the University of Arkansas.
Thirty five teams, 259 total runners, competed in the men's 10K, while 45 teams, 322 total runners, competed in the women's 6K.
Felix Kiboiywo had the men's top finish for the Tigers finishing seventh with a time of 30:07.2. The women's team had two top 25 finishes. Hollie Knight held the top spot for the women, finishing 21st with a time of 21:44.5, followed closely by Sabrina Fischer in 24th with a time of 21:47.9.
Felix was very competitive and held his own," said Auburn head coach Peter Watson. "Hollie competed well, although I don't think she was pleased with her performance, but she has high standards for herself. Sabrina ran a terrific race and each week she keeps getting better and better." The men's team had five runners, including Kiboiywo, who finished in the top 100 and three in the top 50. Chase Oliver finished 39th followed by Pat Philbin at 45th. Joby Peake and Scott Novack finished at 69th and 74th, respectively. Simon Nyang also competed for the Tigers and finished 108th.
"Chase and Pat both continue to make tremendous progress," Watson said. "Scott and Joby were solid and did a great job for us today. Including Knight and Fischer, the women's team had four runners to finish in the top 100. Laurel Prichard finished 48th and Amber Riley finished 87th.
The Tigers had three other competitors finish in the top 200 out of 322. Allison Smith finished 158th, followed by Cathryn Albright at 163rd and Katelyn Simpson finishing 181st.
Host Arkansas took the top team spot for the men's 10K with an average time of 30:08.3. Texas Tech took the women's team top spot with an average time of 21:08.6. TTU had three top 10 finishes, including the number one and two spots held by Sally Kipyego and Irene Kimaiyo, respectively. Texas A&M Corpus Christi's Shadrack Songok ran the best time for the men with a 29:22.1 finish.
Saturday's meet marks the last event before the SEC Championships. The Tigers will take a week off from competition to prepare and then head to Lexington, Ky., on Oct. 27, for the SECs.
"We're looking forward to the championships in two weeks," Watson said. "Today we beat LSU, Vanderbilt and Alabama, and those are the teams that we are going to be seeing at SECs."