JONESBORO, Ark. (10/2/14) The Arkansas State University cross country teams will remain instate for competition this Saturday (Oct. 4) morning as the Red Wolves participate in the 26Annual Chile Pepper Cross Country Festivalmeet at Agri Park in Fayetteville, Ark.

The meet, which is hosted by the Chile Pepper Running Club, gets underway at 9:45 a.m. (CT) with the men's 8K race and is to be proceeded by the women's 5K run at 10:20 a.m. (CT) on the University of Arkansas' Agri Park course. Following the conclusion of both collegiate races, an awards ceremony will be held beginning at 11:10 a.m. (CT).

We are excited to run at the Chile Pepper XC Festival this year, said A-State Cross Country Head Coach Kyle Chandler. Not only do the meet organizers do a great job in putting on a fantastic event, but this course also will serve as the South Central Regional course we race on in November. Typically the races distances have been 6K (3.7 miles) for the women and 10K (6.2 miles) for the men in previous Chile Pepper events, but this year it will be a 5K (3.1 mile) and 8K (5 mile) for the men so it should be interesting to see how we do.

The Chile Pepper Festival meet will feature over 80 schools, including 11 regionally-ranked women's teams and 10 men's regionally-ranked teams not to mention a handful of Sun Belt Conference (SBC) member institutions.

A-State is returning to the Chile Pepper Festival meet following a year's absence. In the 2012 event (10/13), the Red Wolves finished 15th place (422 points) in the women's 6K race and placed 26th (758 points) in the men's 10K run.

This past weekend (Sept. 27), the Red Wolves finished second in women's competition at the 22nd Annual Rhodes College Invitational in Memphis, Tenn., and the men's team produced a fifth-place performance. A-State has been led this season by senior Rexi Parcells, junior Abbey Dixon, and senior Tilda Helgesson on the women's side while juniors Wil Norris, Lance Beckman, and Jesse Duvall have been the top men's runners to date for the Red Wolves, who are coached by Jim Patchell and Kyle Chandler.

The A-State women's team enters this Saturday's meet currently 10th place in the most recent (Sept. 29) U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division I South Central Region Rankings.

The information on the Arkansas State cross country teams is available via Twitter and/or by visiting the Red Wolves' official athletics website at AStateRedWolves.com.

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A-State Cross Country Heads to Chile Pepper Festival