Women's Cross Country | 10/3/2015 10:07:00 PM

Women's Results
Men's Results

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – St. Edward's University Men's and Women's Cross Country took another big step forward on Saturday as four men and eight women posted personal-best times at the Chile Pepper Festival, hosted by Arkansas.
 
KATY GILLIS finished 160^th in a field of 436 in the 5k race to lead the Hilltopper women and JOHN DANIELS led the men with a time of 27:15.66 in the 8k race, ahead of nearly 200 other competitors. However, in terms of personal-best races, it was MAGGIE KAPROSCH stealing the spotlight, cutting 26 seconds off her time on the women's side, and JAMES TOWNLEY slicing 23 seconds off his time for the men.
 
"It was great getting the team in this type of environment. This is a high level competition with a great opportunity to run fast," stated head coach David Chandler. "A total of 12 student-athletes finished with personal records today. I am proud of their ability to perform at this stage. The future is bright and I look forward to climbing in the standings in the years to come."
 
In addition to Jackson's significant improvement for the men, NICHOLAS BARRETT and CHRIS JACKSON both shaved 20 seconds or more off of their times, and JOHN DANIELS also improved by 10 seconds with his team-best finish.
 
For the women, MELISSA POLLO and KATY GILLIS both showed double-digit improvement, dropping their times by 10 seconds and 16 seconds, respectively. HOPE RYAN, VICTORIA MAYORGA, RACHEL FREI, SHAWNTEL GOFF, and ANNA DAVIES also joined the list of Hilltoppers who set personal records on the day.
 
As a team the men and the women both finished top 30 in a field filled with teams from NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, including three teams from the Heartland Conference.
 
The Hilltopper runners are slated to run two more times before the Heartland Conference meet. Their next competition will be at Western Washington on October 10 in Bellingham Washington. Fans can follow St. Edward's Cross Country on Facebook (St. Edward's University Cross Country) and at the home of Hilltopper athletics, www.GoHilltoppers.com.